
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



A Source History 
of the United States 

From. Discovery (1492) to End of Rcconsfructioii ( iSyy) 

FOR USE IN HIGH SCHOOLS, 
NORMAL SCHOOLS, AND COLLEGES 



HOWARD WALTER CALDWELL 

Professor of American History, 
University of Nebraska; 



CLARK EDMUND PERSINGER 

Associate Professor of American History, 
University of Xebraska. 



CHICAGO 
AINSWORTH AND COMPANY 

1909 



& 



Ci3i' 



Copyright 1909 

BY 

AINSWORTH AND COMPANY 



C! A 24,^-042 
SEP 25 1909 



^ INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



Plan and Purpose. An attempt has Been made in these 
pages to present a fairly consecutive and connected histor\ 
of the evolution of the American Nation and people. Not all 
phases of this evolution have been included, as it is believed 
that the true place of a source book is primarily to empha- 
size and intensify the salient and dominant movements in 
the growth of the United States. Only in an incidental 
way has any attempt been made to give, for example, the 
development of the financial history of the country, or to 
trace its constitutional growth. The central theme has been 
political and social ideas and ideals, and the process of their 
evolution from the original or European beginnings into 
the more perfected forms of the last quarter of the nine- 
teenth century. An attempt has been made, in the analysis 
of the book into chapters, sections, and subordinate divi- 
sions, to emphasize the more important periods and prob- 
lems and to show their relationships in such a manner as 
to aid the student in seeing our history as a whole, and in 
its progressive development. ^^ 

How to Use. This history of the United States is not 
planned or intended to be used as the sole source of infor- 
mation. It may be used in either of two ways : ( 1 ) As the 
basis of class-work, each student to have a copy of the work, 
to be supplemented by informal lectures, or by readings in 
narrative texts and reference works, or by a combination 
of the two; or (2), It may be made to supplemcni a narra- 
tive text, used as the basis of ciass-work. Circumstances 
and the teacher's preference will determine which of the 
two methods ought to be chosen in any particular case. 
In order to facilitate such complementary use, page refer- 
ences to many of the best high-school texts have been added 



iv AMERICAN HISTORY 

to each section. Whichever plan is adopted, the student 
ought to learn, through experience and practice, that the 
narrative text is based on the sources ; and thus also to ac- 
quire, in a modest way, the ability to do, and to form his 
own conclusions and judgments. The teacher must see that 
slavish acceptance of the written word does not become a 
habit ; and it is believed that no surer corrective can be 
applied than to take an occasional "section" and work it 
over from the source-book first, then refer to the narrative 
texts and works of trained historians for comparison, elabo- 
ration, and correction. In case the second plan is chosen, 
then the following method is suggested. When used in 
connection with a secondary text, the reading in the text 
on each section should be covered first, and then a study 
made of the source extracts pertaining to the subject or 
subjects covered. Better results will be obtained if the stu- 
dent reads the source material on each lesson twice, the 
first time rather rapidly covering the entire assignment with- 
out regard to questions ; the second time seeking to answer 
each question as it appears. The teacher may exercise his 
own judgment as to the use of the questions given or of 
others of his own making. The only important thing is 
that questions be such as to bring out the really significant 
points in any movement, and not to w^aste time and energy 
on disconnected and unimportant detail. 

Explanatory Introductions. Each of the four chapters 
of the volume is introduced with an explanatory paragraph 
or paragraphs in which an attempt is made briefly to sum- 
marize or interpret, as a whole, the movement or period 
covered by the chapter. Likewise, each section is intro- 
duced with a summary or interpretation of the particular 
phase of the period it presents. These explanatory intro- 
ductions are intended for the use of both teacher and pupil, 
but it is expected that the teacher will assist the pupil in 
arriving at a clear understanding of them. It will be found 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE v 

profitable to read the explanations both before and after 
studying the source matter within each section and chapter. 

The Three Lists of Questions. At the end of each 
section will be found three lists of questions. The first list 
(designated I) consists of short questions, to be answered 
directly from some particular or single portion of the quoted 
material. The second list (designated II) contains com- 
parison questions, requiring answers from more than one 
citation within a section, sometimes from more than one 
section or chapter. The third list (designated III) is in- 
tended to be answered from secondary reading, or at least 
from information obtained, in whole or in part, outside of 
the pages of this book. The teacher must use judgment as 
to the number of questions any class shall be called upon to 
answer from lists II and III of any section, especially where 
written questions are called for. Far more use may be made 
of the last list in a full-year course than in a one-semester 
one, or when considerable secondary or library reading is 
done instead of work in a single secondary text. 

Abbreviations, Marks, etc. In almost no case is any 
document quoted in its entirety. To mark omissions, a line 
of dots ( . . . ) is inserted. In order to make the quotations 
read intelligibly, it has frequently been found necessary to 
insert a word not found in the original document. In all 
cases, such inserted words are included in brackets [ ]. 
Care has been taken not to allow omissions or insertions 
to alter in the slightest the meaning of the original quota- 
tion. 

For Whom Designed. As stated on the title page, this 
book is designed for advanced students of high-school 
grade, for students of Normal schools, and for beginning 
classes in colleges. It is believed that it will be found 
especially useful in all schools where library facilities are 
somewhat meager. In the hope that it may aid in solving 



vi AMERICAN HISTORY 

the problem of the better teaching of history, this Httle 
book asks for the kindly consideration of history teachers 
and those interested in American history. 

Reference Books 

The text-books to which references have been specifically 
made are the following: — 

Adams and Trent, History of the United States ; Ashley, 
American History ; Channing, Students' History of the 
United States ; Hart, Essentials in American History ; James 
and Sanford, American History; MacDonald, Johnston's 
High School History of the United States ; McLaughlin, 
History of the American Nation ; Montgomery, Students' 
American History ; McMaster, School History of the United 
States ; Thomas, A History of the United States. 



CONTENTS 



I NTRODUCTION i- VJ 

CHAPTER I 
THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 

SECTION I-DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, 1492- 

1566 2-17 

1. The Columbian Discovery and Its Effects 4-8 

a. The Motives of Columbus 4 

b. The Discovery and Its Immediate Effects 6 

2. Exploration of North America 9-16 

ij. Spanish 9 

b. The French in the St. Lawrence Region 11 

c. French Huguenots in Florida 13 

d. European Claims in North America about 1565 15 

Questions 16 

References 17 

SECTION II — THE RISE OF RIVAL COLONIZA- 
TIONS. 1566 to about 1620 17-34 

1. English Planting of the Colony of Virginia 18-28 

a. Motives of First English Colonization 18 

b. Settlement at Jamestown 21 

c. Conversion of Virginia into a Royal Colony 24 

2. New France and New Netherland 28-33 

a. French beginnings of Acadia and Canada 28 

b. Dutch Settlements on the Hudson River 31 

Questions 33 

References 34 

SECTION III— BEGINNING OF RELIGIOUS-POLITI- 
CAL COLONIZATION OF ENGLISH AMERICA, 

1620-1640 34-52 

1. Pilgrim or Separatist Founding of Plymouth Colony.. 36-39 

2. Puritan Colonization of Massachusetts 39 

a. Motives of the Puritan Migration of 1628-1640 39 

b. Early Massachusetts 41 

3. Beginnings of the other New England Colonies 45-49 

a. Rhode Island 45 

b. Connecticut 46 

c. New Haven 48 

d. New England about 1640 48 

4. Lord Baltimore's Catholic Colony of Maryland 50-51 

Questions 51 

References 52 



viii AMERICAN HISTORY 

SECTION IV— THE PURITAN REVOLUTION IN ENG- 
LAND AND THE COLONIES, 1640-1660 53 72 

1. The Puritan Revolution in England 55-59 

2. Effects of the Puritan Revolution upon the New England 

Colonies 59-64 

a. Attitude of New England towards Puritan Govern- 

ment in old England 59 

b. The New England Confederation 60 

c. The Presbyterian Appeal, and its Suppression 62 

3. Effects of Puritan Revokilion upon the Colony of Vir- 

ginia 65-68 

a. Expulsion of the Puritans from Virginia 65 

b. Virginia's Defiance of Parliament, 1649-1652 66 

c. Surrender of Virginia to the Parliamentary Commis- 

sion 68 

4. Effects of Puritan Revolution upon the Colony of Mary- 

land 68-72 

a. Puritan Seizures of the Government of Maryland... 68 

b. Restoration of Maryland to its Proprietor 71 

Questions 72 

References 72 

SECTION V— REACTION AND REBELLION, 1660-1689 73 99 

1. Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia 75-80 

a. Reactionary Policy of Virginia Assembly and Gov- 

ernor after the Restoration, 1660-1676 75 

b. Rebellion Led by Nathaniel Bacon, 1676 76 

c. Outcome of the Rebellion 78 

2. Royal Attack on New England 80-84 

a. Overthrow of the Massachusetts Charter, 1660-1685. . 80 

b. The "Dominion of New England" under Governor 

Andros, 16-86-1689, 82 

3. Colonial Expansion During the Restoration Period 84-92 

a. Conquest of Dutch Netherland, 1664: 84 

b. Royalist Fotiiiding of Carolina Colony, 1663-1680. ... 86 

c. Quaker Beginnings in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 

1676-1690 88 

4. Effects of the English Revolution of 1688 92-97 

a. New England's Overthrow of Andros and his "Do- 

minion" 92 

b. Leisler's Rebellion in New York 95 

Questions 97 

References 99 

SECTION VI— COLONIAL INSTITUTIONS AND LIFE 

ABOUT 1700 99-123 

1. Government 100-107 

a. Relation with the Mother Country 100 

b. The Three Types of Colonial Government 103 

f. The Two Types of Local Government 106 

2. Life and Manners 107-122 

a. The Southern Colonies JjQ7 - 

b. New England 113 

c. The Middle Colonies 118 



CONTENTS ix 

Questions 122 

References 123 

SECTION VII— EXTERNAL CONFLICT AND INTER- 
NAL DEVELOPMENT, 1689-1763 123-163 

1. French-English Struggle for Supremacy in America. ... 125-138 

a. Causes and Character of the French-English Conflict 125 

b. The Three Preliminary Conflicts, 1689 1748 126 

c. The French and Indian War, 1754-1763 129 

2. English Colonial Expansion During the French-English 

Struggle 139-146 

a. Beginning of Non-English Immigration 139 

b. Colonization of Georgia. 1732-1751 141 

c. Westward Movement across the Mountains. 1730-1755 144 

3. Colonial Constitutional Development, 1689-1763 146-163 

a. British Establishment of New Imperial Organ for 

b. Increased Parliamentary Regulation of Colonial Af- 

fairs '. 148 

c. British Endeavors to Reduce Colonies to One Uni- 

form Type ("Royal Colony") 154 

d. British Attempts to Bring about LTnion 156 

e. British Proposal of an Episcopal Bishopric for the 

Colonies 157 

/. Growing Assertion of Colonial "Rights" 158 

Questions 163 

References 164 



CHAPTER II 
REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE, 1764-1786 

SECTION I— THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION— 1764 

1776 166-202 

1. The "Stamp Act" Controversy— 1764-1766 167-176 

a. British "Change of Colonial Policy," 1764-1765 167 

b. Colonial Opposition to the New Policy, 1765-1766. . 169 

c. British Reception of Colonial Protests, 1766 171 

2. The "Townshend Act" Controversy, 1767-1770 176-183 

a. Renewal of British Attempt to enforce its "Change 

of Policy," 1767 ^ 176 

b. Colonial Opposition to the "Townshend Acts." 1768- 

1769 .__ 178 

c. British Response to Colonial Opposition, 1769-1770.. 182 

3. The "Tea Tax" Controversy, 1773-1774 183 187 

a. Third British Attempt to Tax the Colonists. 1773.. 183 

b. Colonial Resistance 183 

c. British Attempt to compel Colonial Obedience, 1774 184 

4. Revolution. 1774-1775 188-198 



X AMERICAN HISTORY 

a. Colonial Resistance to " Intolerable Acts," 1774 188 

b. British Retaliation for Continued - Colonial Resist- 

ance, Jan.-Mar., 1775 190 

c. Colonial Resort to Arms. April-Julv, 1775 194 

5. Independence, 1775-1776 ^ 198-201 

a. British Reply to Colonial Armed Resistance. 1775. . 198 

b. Colonial Declaration of Independence. 1775-1776.... 198 

c. Establishment of New, Independent State Govern- 

ments. 1776 1777 201 

Questions 201 

References 202 

SECTION II— THE MILITARY STRUGGLE— 1776-1783.203-231 

1. The War in the North. 1776-1778 204-208 

a. The Campaign of 1776 204 

b. The Campaign of 1777-1778 205 

2. Aid from Europe — The French Alliance 208-214 

fl. American Request for European Assistance ; Re- 
sponse up to 1778 208 

b. The French Treaty of Alliance, and its Effect in 

England and America 210 

c. European Attitude towards America from 1778 to 

the close of the War 212 

3. Confederation and the Western Lands Claims 214-219 

a. Virginia's Claim to the Western Lands. 1776 214 

b. Congress Making the Confederation 214 

f. The Western Lands Question Delays Confederation, 

1778-1781 217 

4. The War in the South, 1778-1781 219 224 

5. Peace. 1781-1783 224-231 

a. American Demands 224 

b. Dispute with Spain over the Western Lands 225 

c. Negotiations at Paris 226 

d. Ratification of the Treaty 228 

Questions 231 

References 232 

SECTION III— BREAKDOWN OF THE CONFEDERA- 
TION, 1781-1786 233-244 

1. Defects Developed by Peace 233-237 

a. Lack of a National Revenue 233 

b. Lack of National Control of Commerce 234 

c. Lack of Power in the Confederation Congress.... 235 

2. Proposals of Remedy for the Defects of the Confedera- 

tion 237-239 

a. Congressional Recommendation for the Defects of the 

Confederation 237 

b. Proposals for a Constitutional Convention 238 



CONTENTS xi 

3. Organization of the National Domain 239-244 

a. Virginia's Cession of Western Land Claims 239 

b. First Attempts to organize the New National Domain 240 

c. Ordinances of 1787-1788 241 

Questions 244 

References 245 

SECTION IV— AMERICAN LIFE ABOUT 1780 to 1800.245-264 

1. General Characteristics 246-252 

a. An American View 246 

b. An English Opinion 248 

c. A French Interpretation 250 

2. Sectional Characteristics 252-264 

a. New England 

b. The Middle States (Pennsylvania, New York, New 

Jersey) 255 

c. The South 258 

d. The Trans-Alleghany West 260 

Questions 264 

References 264 



CHAPTER III 

THE MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 

SECTION I— FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION— 

1786-1789 266-284 

1. Preliminaries to the Constitutional Convention 267-270 

a. The Annapolis Convention 267 

b. Instructions of State Delegates to the Constitutional 

Convention 268 

2. Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention 270-278 

a. Plans Presented to the Convention 270 

b. Debates _ 273 

3. The Constitution before the People 278-283 

a. Congress Recommends to the States 278 

b. Individual Opinions of the New Constitution 279 

c. Ratification by State Conventions 282 

Questions 284 

References 284 

SECTION II — HAMILTONIAN FEDERALISM— 1789- 

1801 285-306 

1. Development of Federalist Domestic Policy, 1789-1793. .286-294 

a. Organization of Government under the Constitution 286 

b. Establishment of Hamiltonian Financial Policy.... 289 

2. Dominance of Foreign Relations, 1793-1798 294-300 

a. Neutrality 294 

b. Jay's Treaty 295 

c. The X. Y. Z. Affair 299 



xii AMERICAN HISTORY 

3 Overthrow of Hamiltonian Federalism, 1798-1801 301-306 

a. Alien and Sedition Legislation 301 

b. The Kentucky Resolutions 302 

c. Federal Despondency 303 

d. Breach in the Federal Party 304 

e. Election of 1800 305 

Questions 306 

References 307 

SECTION III — JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANISM, 

1801-1812 307-327 

1. Republican Policies in Operation, 1801-1803 308-310 

a. Republican Principles 308 

b. Republican Accomplishments 309 

2. The Purchase of Louisiana, 1803-1805 310-316 

a. Effect of the Spanish Retrocession of Louisiana to 

France (1800) 310 

b. Spanish Closure of the Mississippi (1802) 311 

c. Republican vs. Federalist Policies 311 

d. Napoleon's Decision to Sell Louisiana 312 

e. Minister Livingston's Impression of the Purchase.. 313 
/. Boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase 

g. Jefferson's Proposal of a Constitutional Amendment 314 
h. Federalist Criticism and Republican Defence of Pur- 
chase 315 

i. Dispute with Spain over Louisiana Boundaries 316 

3. Republican Attack upon the Federal Judiciary 317-318 

a. Republican Criticism of the Courts established by the 

Federalists 317 

b. The Question of what constitutes an impeachable of- 

fence (Case of Justice Chase) 317 

c. Partisan Appointments to the Federal Courts 318 

4. The Embargo 319-323 

a. Encroachments upon the Neutral Rights of Ameri- 

can Commerce 319 

b. The Embargo and its Effects, 1807-1811 321 

5. Transformation of the Republican Party, 1810-1812 323-326 

a. Young Republican Demand for a more National 

Policy 323 

b. President Madison's Acceptance of the New Pohcy.. 324 

c. Old Republican Protest against the New Policy.... 325 

Questions 326 

References 327 

SECTION IV— NATIONAL REPUBLICANISM, 1812- 

1829 327-353 

1. War of 1812 329-334 

a. Its Party and Sectional Nature 329 

b. The Hartford Convention 331 

c. The Treaty of Peace 333 

d. Effects of the War of 1812. 333 

2. The Republicans Apply the Principles of Broad Con- 

struction 334 344 



CONTENTS xm 

a The Doctrine of Protection applied in the Tariff Act 

of 1816 .•••.••••:• '^■^^ 

b The Republicans become Broad Constructionists m 

Bank Act, 1816 • ^^^ 

c. The Republican Congress Approves a System of 

Internal Improvements ^^ 

d. Expansion: Rounding out of Boundaries ;•••,.. *^T^ 

3 Growth of Nationality Checked by Missouri Struggle . 344-346 

a. The Missouri Enabling Act and the Slavery amend- 
ments ^ . , 

h. Debate in Congress '^T^ 

c. Expressions of Public Sentiment ^"'^ 

4 The United States Asserts its Dominance in the Amer- 

icas 346-349 

a. Clay's American Political System 346 

h. The Monroe Doctrine Asserted ^^^ 

c. The Monroe Doctrine Formulated J'*^ 

d. The Monroe Doctrine Interpreted 

5. Political Parties Reorganized after "Era of Good F^^l- ^^^ 

a. Denial of a "corrupt bargain" • • • • • 349 

b. The Opponents of Adams seize on the Panama Mis- 

sion to attack the Administration 3bU 

c. The Election of 1828 : Triumph of Jackson ^M 

Questions , co 

References 

SECTION V-JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY, 1829-1841. .353-378 

1. Democratic Forms Estabhshed /-r;-""-'/'-/ ,ch 

a. Jackson recommends Popular Election of President. 3M 
b The National Nominating Convention established. . 354 

c. The first Formal National Party Platform c,ca ^S 

2 The People and "Rotation in Office" ^e^ 

a. The doctrine of "the Spoils" asserted J50 

b. The arguments for rotation ^J^^ 

c. The arguments for permanency of tenure ^3» 

.3. Popular Reforms ^^^'fd 

a. Imprisonment for Debt ^^^ 

b. For Suppressing Intemperance J^^ 

c. Reform in Money Conditions :^ou 

d. In Means of Transportation Joy 

c. Management of the Public Lands ^.-, 3.l^ 

4. Democracy and the Bank. 1829-1837 363-369 

a. The recharter of the Bank ^o^ 

b. Removal of the Government Deposits ^o/ 

c. Senate censures Jackson ; censure expunged Jo^ 

5. Nationahty Sustained against Nullification iS 

a. Occasion of Nullification ^^Z^ 

b. Theory of Nullification i/Ji 

c. Act of Nullification -^{^^ 

d. Proclamation against Nullification ^/^ 

e. Public Reception of Nullification : «3'J 



xiv AMERICAN HISTORY 

f. Debate in Congress over "Revenue Collection Bill" 374 

g. The Compromise Tariff of 1833 37o 

6. Foreign Relations ; Aggressive Policy. i76?)77 

a. French Treaty on American Claims. 376 

b. Great Britain offers her good services 377 

Questions ^^° 

References ^'^ 

SECTION VI— INDUSTRIAL, SOCIAL. AND RELIG- 
IOUS CONDITIONS ABOUT 1840 379-396 

1. The Industrial Outlook about 1840 380-387 

a. Business Characteristics 380 

b. Means of Communication 382 

c. The Cities ; Characteristics 383 

d. The Standard of Living 385 

2. Social and Educational Conditions 387-393 

a. Americans live in and for the future 387 

b. The Style of Living 388 

c. Democracy 389 

d. Cities and their Peculiar Features 391 

c. The South 392 

3. American INIorals 394-395 

a. High Moral Standards 394 

b. Temperance and Prison Reform 395 

Questions 395 

References 396 

CHAPTER IV 

SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1841-1877 

SECTION I-STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF TERRI- 

TORY, 1841-1850 398-416 

1 The Annexation of Texas, 1843-1845 ^^^'inl 

a. The Spirit of the Times 399 

5. The Texas Question; Oregon involved 40U 

c. Annexation becomes a Party Issue 403 

d. Annexation of Texas by Joint Resolution 4U3 

2. Oregon and its Boundary 1n^ 

a. The question of a Compromise Line 4U5 

3. The North Proposes to Make all Acquired Territory 

Free 407-409 

a. The Wilmot Proviso 40/ 

4. Attempts at Settlement, 1846-1850 "^^.In 

a. By extending the line 36° 30' to the Pacific 409 

b. By doctrine of Non-intervention 411 

c. By leaving decision to the Supreme Court 411 

d. By forming all territory into States 41^ 

e The question alreadv settled by Law of Mexico 41^ 

5. The Compromise of 1850 ^^^'V,\ 

a. The Terms set forth 4U 

Questions 410 

References 



CONTENTS XV 

SECTION II— STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY IN THE 

NATION, 1850-1860 417-433 

1. The Finality Years. 1850-1854 418 419 

a. Opinions regarding Finalitj- of the Compromise of 

1850 418 

b. Party Platforms approve Compromise 419 

2. The Kansas Nebraska Bill, 1854 419-432 

a. Its terms and basis 419 

b. Effects of Kansas-Nebraska Bill 422 

c. Kansas question in Congress 425 

d. The Dred Scott Decision and Opinions 427 

c. The Lincoln Douglas Debates, 1858. 429 

f. The John Brown Raid into Virginia 430 

g. Congressional Intervention demanded 431 

Questions 432 

References 433 

SECTION III— COMPARISON OF THE NORTH AND 

SOUTH, INDUSTRIALLY, SOCIALLY, ETC., 1860 433-451 

1. The Question of Slavery 435-445 

a. The Position of the South 435 

h. The Position of the North 437 

c. The Industrial Conditions under Slavery 438 

d. Industrial Conditions under Free Labor 443 

e. The Needs of the South 444 

2. Industrial Comparison of North and South 446-449 

a. South lacked Factories and Artisans 446 

b. Southern Life during the War 446 

c. Statistical Comparison of North and South, 1863 447 

3. Slavery Divides the Churches 449-450 

a. Religious Status of the Negro 449 

b. Breach in the Churches ; Division of the Methodist 

Church 449 

Questions 450 

References 451 

SECTION IV— THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865 451-465 

1. Secession of South Carolina, Dec, 1860 452-454 

a. Reasons assigned in Justification 452 

b. Attempts at Compromise 454 

2. The Civil War Begins 455-458 

a. Effects of Southern firing on Sumter 455 

b. Border State Neutrality 456 

c. The Plan of Campaign 456 

3. Character and Purpose of the War 458-461 

a. Pro-Union War, 1861-1862 458 

b. An Anti-Slavery War, 1863-1865 460 

4. Foreign Relations 461-464 

a. Attitude of European Nations 461 

b. The Trent Affair 461 

c. The Question of Recognition of Independence 463 

Questions 464 

References 465 



xvi AMERICAN HISTORY 

SECTION V— RECONSTRUCTION, 1863-1877 465-484 

1. Presidential Theory and Plans, 1861-1866 466-473 

a. As developed under President Lincoln, 1861-1865.... 466 

b. As developed under President Johnson 469 

c. Results in Reconstructed States 472 

2. Congressional Reconstruction, 1866-1870 473-477 

a. The Moderates in control, 1865-1870 473 

b. Struggle for Control of Congress 1866 475 

c. The Radicals in Power, 1867-1870 476 

3. Results of Radical Reconstruction 478-483 

a. Carpet bag and Negro Rule 478 

b. White Supremacy restored 480 

c. Troops Withdrawn from the South 482 

Questions 483 

References 484 



CHAPTER I 

THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA, 1492-1763 

That "discovery" of America which actually revealed the 
New World to the Old was made by Christopher Columbus 
in 1492. For this reason it has seemed advisable to begin this 
chapter with the Columbian rather than the earlier Norse 
discovery. Columbus' voyage in search of a new "west- 
ward" route to the much-desired " Indies " resulted in the 
discovery of land which Europe at first believed to be some 
portion of those "Indies." But Spanish, Portuguese, French 
and English voyages of exploration soon revealed the fact 
that it was a New World Columbus had discovered. These 
and later explorations laid the basis for rival European 
claims to this New World. In actual occupation, however, 
Spain was for nearly a century the only successful nation. 
But as the Reformation struggle in Europe weakened Spain 
and strengthened her rivals, colonies were finally established, 
about 1600, by English, French, and Dutch. 

These first colonies were almost wholly commercial in 
their origin and purpose. But religious and political war- 
fare in Europe, and especially in England^ soon produced 
in America a new type of colonization — that by refugees 
from religious and political persecution in the Old World. 
The ups and downs of the religious-political conflict of 
1604 to 1688 in Old England were faithfully reflected in 
colonial history : StuaH royal absolutism and Episcopal per- 
secution of dissent (1604-1642) populated New England;' 
the Puritan Revolution (1642-1660) stopped the movement 
to New England, started a similar one to Virginia, and 
brought disturbance or up-turning in all of the colonies; 
under the restored Stuarts (1660-1688) the New England 



2 AMERICAN HISTORY 

charters were overthrown and Royalist reaction in Vir- 
ginia brought on Bacon's RebeUion. Only with the English 
and colonial overturnings of the Revolution of 1688 did the 
long period of religious-political conflict end, and the colo- 
nies enter upon an era of more peaceable and orderly de- 
velopment. 

Yet this newly-opening era found the colonies already 
possessed, of institutions and characteristics, not to be greatly 
modified by the remaining three-quarters of a century of the 
colonial period. Many of such institutions and characteris- 
tics were common to all of the then existing colonies ; yet 
Southern, Northern, and Middle groups already began to 
show marked sectional features. 

While the English Colonies were thus slowly building up 
along the Atlantic Coast, the French had been spreading 
rapidly over the Great Lakes region, the eastern tributaries 
of the Mississippi, and finally the Mississippi itself, taking 
possession of the whole interior of North America. When, 
with the accession of William III to the throne of Eng- 
land, in 1689, the French and English struggle for world 
dominion began in Europe, there began also a struggle be- 
tween the colonies of the two nations for supremacy in 
America. After fifty years of conflict it ended in English 
victory, the dispossession of France, and the partitioning 
of North America between England and Spain. 

SECTION I 

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, 1492-1566 

To Europe of the Renaissance period, the far East of 
" Cathay " and "the Indies" oflrered the richest of fields for 
trade and exploitation. But access to this East was hin- 
dered by long, expensive land routes, some of which were 
even closed to traffic by Turkish conquests of the territory 
through which they passed. The universal desire of com- 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 3 

mercial Europe of the middle of the fifteenth century there- 
fore was a new route or new routes to this eastern land of 
riches. The Portuguese were first to act, seeking an all- 
v/ater route "eastward" around the southern end of Africa. 
Then came Columbus, alone willing to put to the test a 
wide-spread geographical theory of his day — that of an all- 
water route to the East directly westward around the globe. 
Crossing the Atlantic in 1492, he found land near the 
place he had expected ; and returning to Europe, announced 
his reaching of the " Indies " by the "westward" route. 

The announcement of Columbus aroused other nations 
than Spain to efforts to participate in the benefits of his dis- 
covery. But subsequent voyages failed to disclose the 
wealth expected in the lands found by Columbus ; the Por- 
tuguese, in 1497, rounded Africa and reached the wealth of 
the real Indies ; and still later voyages revealed the Colum- 
bian land as an entirely New World, far removed from the 
East of Cathay and the Indies. 

Columbus died in disappointment, disgrace, and poverty. 
But Spanish adventurers flocked to the New World he had 
discovered. They explored large portions of it ; found and 
opened its gold mines, and poured wealth into the treasury 
of Spain and the pockets of its grandees ; and scattered here 
and there over the West Indies and the two continents their 
trading and mission stations. Space has not been taken in 
this section to quote from all of the narratives of these activi- 
ties. The expedition of Narvaez and Vaca has been taken 
as typical of the Spanish ; that of Cartier for the French 
in the North ; and Laudonniere's narrative of the French 
Huguenot attempts in the South Carolina-Florida country. 



4 AMERICAN HISTORY 

1. THE COLUMBIAN DISCOVERY AND ITS EFFECTS 
a. The Motives of Columbus: 

Marco Polo flic Venetian: The Attractions of the Indies and 
Cathay (An account of travels made in 1271-1295; manuscript 
written m 1298; first published in 1477). "To this city [the 
chief city of Cathay] everything that is most rare and valuable 
in all parts of the world finds its way. . . . From the provinces 
of Cathay itself . . . whatever there is of value is carried 
thither. . . . The quantity of merchandise sold there exceeds 
also the traffic of any other place. . . . Zipangu . . . [has] 
gold in the greatest abundance, its sources being inexhaustible. 
... In this island there are pearls also, in large quantities, 
... of great size. . . . There are also found there a number 
ot precious stones. . . . [There is] . . . an island of very 
great size, named Java. . . . The country abounds with rich 
commodities. Pepper, nutmegs, spikenard, galengal, cubebs, 
cloves, and all the other valuable spices and drugs are the prod- 
uce of the islands. . . The quantity of gold collected there ex- 
ceeds all calculation and belief, . . . and from there . . . 
is obtained the greatest part of the spices that are distributed 
throughout the world. . . . [Java Minor] contains abundance 
of riches, and all sorts of spices, lignum-aloes, sappan-wood for 
dyeing, and various other kinds of drugs. . . . The island 
[of Zeilan] produces more beautiful and valuable rubies than 
are found in any other part of the world, and likewise sap- 
phires, topazes, amethysts, garnets, and many other precious 
and costly stones. . . . Malabar is an extensive kingdom of 
the Greater India. ... In this kingdom there is a vast 
abundance of pepper, ginger, cubebs, and Indian nuts; and the 
finest and most beautiful cottons are manufactured that can 
be found in any part of the world. . . ." ^ 

Paolo Toscanelli the Florentine : A Westzvard Ronte to the 
Indies (From a letter written by the astronomer to one of his 
friends in Portugal, and a copy of which he later sent to Colum- 
bus). ". . .1 have spoken of the very short route from here 



1. Thomas Wright, The Travels ot Marco Polo the Venetian (Revised 
Marsden translation, London, 1892), 214-215, 350-351, 361-362, 365, 379, 416-417. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 5 

to the Indies where the the spices grow, — shorter by way of 
the sea than that which you follow to Ginnea. . . . And al- 
though I know that the world can be shown as it is in the 
form of a sphere, I am determined . . . for greater intelli- 
gence to show the said route by a chart similar to those which 
are made for navigation, ... in which . . . straight to the 
west the commencement of the Indies is shown, and ... in 
how many leagues you can reach those fertile places . . . ; 
and you must not wonder if I call the places where spices grow, 
West, because it is commonly said that they grow in the East ; 
but whoever will navigate to the West will always find the said 
places, . . . and whoever will go by land to the East will 
always find the same places. . . . [From] this country . . . 
av ambassador came, . . , and I spoke much with him . . . 
of the grandeur of the royal edifices, . . . and of the multi- 
tude of cities there. . . . This country is as rich as any that 
may be found, and not only can great profit [from trade] be 
obtained there, . . . but also gold and silver and precious 
stones . . . ; because of the route bemg unknown, all these 
things are concealed; and they can very surely be reached. 

Christopher Columbus : My Instructions from the King and 
Queen of Spain (Extract from Columbus' journal of his first 
voyage). ". . . O most Christian, and very high, very ex- 
cellent . . . Princes, King and Queen of the Spains, . . . 
in. the present year, 1492, after your Highnesses had given an 
end to the war with the Moors, . . . acting on the informa- 
tion that I had given to your Highnesses touching the lands 
of India, and respecting a Prince who is called Gran Can, 
which means in our language King of Kings, . . your 
Highnesses . . . resolved to send me, Cristobal Colon, to the 
said parts of India to see the said princes, and the cities and 
lands, and their disposition, with a view that they might be 
converted to our holy faith ; and ordered that I should not go 
by land to the eastward, as had been customary, but that I 



2. Translated by J. B. Thaclier, in his Life of Christopher Columbus, 
I, 303-306. 



6 AMERICAN HISTORY 

should go by way of the west, whither to this day, we do not 
know for certain that any one has gone." ^ 

b. The Discovery and Its Immediate Effects: 

Letter of Christopher Columhus to Luis de Santangel (Feb. 
15, 1492). "I write you this, by which you shall know that in 
thirty-three days I passed over to the Indies with the fleet 
which the most illustrious King and Queen, our Lords, gave 
me ; where I found very many islands peopled with inhabi- 
tants beyond number. And, of them all, I have taken posses- 
sion for their Highnesses. . . . When I reached Juana [Cuba], 
I found it so large that I thought it might be mainland, the 
province of Cathay. ... I sent two men into the country to 
learn if there were a king, or any great cities. They traveled 
for three days, and found innumerable small villages and a 
numberless population, but nought of ruling authority. . . . 
This is [a land] to be desired, — and once seen, never to be 
relinquished,— . . . and I hold ... all in the name of their 
Highnesses. . . . And in conclusion, to speak only of what 
has been done in this voyage, . . . their Highnesses may see 
that I shall give them as much gold as they shall need, . . . 
spices and cotton, . . . and aloe-wood, . . . and slaves. . . . 
And I believe that . . . the men whom I am leaving there 
v/ill have discovered a thousand other things of value. . . . 
This is enough ; and [thanks to] Eternal God our Lord who 
gives to all those who walk His way, victory over things which 
seem impossible, and this was signally one such, for although 
men have talked or written of those lands, it was all by con- 
jecture, without confirmation from eyesight, amounting only to 
this much, that the hearers for the most part . . . judged 
that there was more fable in it than anything actual. . . ." * 

The Treaty of Tordesillas (A treaty made by Spain and 
Portugal in 1494). "That inasmuch as between the said Lords, 
... a certain difference exists in regard to what part of that 
. . . discovered in the Ocean-sea . . . belongs to each one 



3. E. G. Bourne, Voyages of Columbus and Cabot (in J. F. Jameson' 
Original Narratives of Early American HisLory series), 89-90. 

4. E. G. Bourne, Voyages of Columbus, etc., 263-264, 268-271. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 7 

of the said parties ; therefore . . . the King of Portugal . . . 
[and] the King and Queen of Castile, of Aragon, etc., . . . 
consent that there shall be made and marked out through the 
said ocean, a mark or line straight from pole to pole, ... at 
370 leagues from the islands of Cape Verde to the west. . . . 
And that all . . . discovered ... by the eastern side within 
the said line . . . may . . . belong to the King of Portugal. 
. . . And that all the rest . . . discovered . . . from the 
said line . . . going by the . . . western side . . . may 
. . . belong to the . . . King and Queen of Castile and of 
Leon, etc. . . ." ^ 

Letter of Soiiciiw to the Duke of Milan (Dated at London, 
Dec. 18, 1497). "There is in this kingdom [of England] a 
Venetian fellow, Master John Cabot by name, . . . who. 
seeing that . . . [the] kings ... of Portugal, and ... of 
Spain, have occupied unknown islands, determined to make a 
like acquisition for his [British] Majesty. . . . And having 
obtained royal grants, . . . with a small ship and eighteen 
persons he . . . set sail . . . ; and having wandered about 
considerably, at last he struck mainland, where, having planted 
the royal banner and taken possession on behalf of this King, 
and taken certain tokens, he has returned thence. The said 
Master John, as being foreign-born and poor, would not be 
believed if his comrades, who are almost all Englishmen and 
from Bristol, did not testify that what he says is true. . . . 
But Master John has set his mind on something greater; for 
he expects to go farther on . . . until he shall be over against 
an island by him called Cipango, situated in the equinoctial 
region, where he thinks all the spices of the world, and also 
the precious stones, originate. . . . And it is said that, in 
the spring, his Majesty . . . will fit out some ships, and will 
besides give him all the convicts, and they will go to that coun- 
try to make a colony, by means of which they hope to establish 
in London a greater emporium of spices than there is in 
Alexandria." " 



5. Translated by J. B Thacher in his Life of Christopher ("olumbus, II, 181. 

6. E. G. Bourne, Voyages of Columbus, etc., 425-429. 



8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Letter from Spanish Ambassador at London to the King and 
Queen of Spain (Dated at London, July 25, 1498). "I think 
your Majesties have already heard that the King of England 
has equipped a fleet in order to discover certain islands and 
mainland. . . . The King of England has often spoken to me 
on this subject. He hoped to derive great advantage from it. 
... I told him that, in my opinion, the land was already in 
possession of your Majesties; but, though I gave him my rea- 
sons, he did not like it. . . ." " 

Letter of Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain (July 
7, 1503, — after the Portuguese arrival at real Indies by "east- 
ward" route around southern end of Africa). "For several 
years I was at your royal court, where every one to whom the 
enterprise was mentioned treated it as ridiculous ; but now 
there is not a man, down to the very tailors, who does not beg 
to be allowed to become a discoverer. . , . The lands in this 
part of the world . . . are richer and more extensive than 
those of any other Christian power, and yet, after that I had, 
by the Divine will, placed them under your high and royal 
sovereignty, ... I was arrested and thrown, with my two 
brothers, loaded with irons, into a ship, stripped, and very ill- 
tieated . . . [on the charge that I had] risen against your 
Highnesses. ... I was twenty-eight years old when I came 
into your Highnesses' service, and now I have not a hair upon 
me that is not gray ; my body is infirm, and all that was left 
to me, . . . has been taken and sold, even to the frock that I 
wore. . . . The honest devotedness I have always shown to 
your Majesties' service, and the so unmerited outrage with 
which it has been repaid, will not allow my soul to keep silence, 
however much I may wish it. ... I am indeed in as ruined 
condition as I have related. . . . Solitary in my trouble, sick, 
and in daily expectation of death. . . . Weep for me, who- 
ever has charity, truth, and justice ! " ^ 



7. E. G. Bourne, \'oyages of Columbus, etc., 429-430. 
S. E. G. Bourne, \'oyages of Columbus, etc., 416-418. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 9 

2. EXPLORATION OF NORTH AMERICA 
a. Spanish: 

Cabcza dc Vaca: Relation of ivhaf befell the exploring expe- 
dition of Narvacz from if,2'/ to ijj6 (Zamora, Spain, 1542). 

"[N]o one of the many armaments that have gone into 
those parts [of the New World] has been permitted to find 
itself in straits great like ours, or come to an end alike for- 
lorn and fatal. To me, only one duty remains, to present a 
relation of what was seen and heard in the ten years I wandered 
lost and in privation through many and remote lands. . . . 
On the seventeenth day of June, in the year fifteen hundred 
and twenty-seven, the Governor Pamphilo de Narvaez left the 
port [of Spain] . . . authorized and commanded ... to 
conquer and govern the provinces of the main [land], extend- 
ing from the River Palmas to the cape of Florida. The fleet 
he took was five ships, in which went six hundred men . . . ; 
the officers . . . were . . . Cabeza de Vaca, treasurer and 
high sheriff [etc.]. . . . 

We came in sight [of the coast of Florida] on Tuesday, the 
twelfth day of April, and sailed along the coast. On Holy 
Thursday we anchored near the shore of the mouth of a bay 
at the head of which we saw some houses or habitations of 
Indians. . . . The next day the Governor raised ensigns for 
your Majesty [the King of Spain], and took possession of the 
country in your royal name. . . . 

The day following, the Governor resolved to make an in- 
cursion to explore the land, and see what it might contain. . . . 
We took our way towards the north, . . . and, having gone 
four leagues, we captured four Indians. We also found pieces 
of linen and of woolen cloth. . . . There were likewise traces 
o£ gold. Having by signs asked the Indians whence these 
things came, they motioned to us, that very far from there was 
a province called Apalachen. where was much gold. . . . 

On Saturday, first of May, . . . the Governor ordered 
to each man going with him, two pounds of biscuit and half a 
pound of bacon ; and thus victualled we took up our march into 
the country. The whole number of' men was three hundred. 



10 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . We traveled on the allowance we had received fifteen 
days, without finding any other thing to eat than palmitos, . . . 
going ever in quest of Apalache, the country of which the 
Indians told us, having for our guides those we had taken. 
. . . They conducted us through a country very difficult to 
travel and wonderful to look upon. In it are vast forests, the 
trees being astonishingly high. So many were fallen on the 
ground as to obstruct our way. . . . We labored on through 
these impediments until the day after Saint John's, when we 
came in view of Apalachen. . . . The town consisted of forty 
small houses . . . [of] thatch. . . . We were in the town 
five days, in which we made three incursions, and found the 
country very thinly peopled and difficult to travel. . . . We 
then asked touching the region towards the south. . . . 

It was piteous and painful to witness our perplexity and 
distress. . . . [The] Governor called ... all to him, and 
of each apart he asked advice as to what he should do to get 
out of a country so miserable. . . . [W]e coincided in one 
great project extremely difficult to pv.t in operation, and that 
was to build vessels in which we might go away. This ap- 
peared impossible to every one ; we knew not how to construct, 
nor were there* tools, . . . and, above all, there was nothing 
to eat. . . . The next day . . . we . . . assented to the 
making of nails, saws, axes, and other tools . . . from the 
stirrups, crossbows, and the other things of iron there were ; 
and ... on every third day a horse should be killed to be 
divided among those who labored. . . . We . . . proceeded 
with so great diligence that . . . five boats were finished. 
. . . Before we embarked there died more than forty men 
of disease and hunger, without enumerating those destroyed by 
the Indians. By [this time] . . . the horses had been con- 
sumed, only one remaining ; and . . . we embarked. . . . 

Thus we journeyed along . . . thirty days. . . . [when] 
a heavy storm came on, that detained us six days . . . ; and 
as it was now five days since we had drunk, our thirst was so 
excessive it put us to the extremity of swallowing salt water, 
by which some of the men became so crazed that three or four 
suddenly died. . . . Although the storm had not ceased, . . . 
we resolved to commend ourselves to God our Lord, and ad- 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 11 

venture the peril of the sea. . . . When day came, the boats 
had lost sight of each other. I found . . . that of the Gov- 
ernor. ... I said ... he must tell me how he would that 
I should act. He answered that it was no longer a time in 
which one should command another ; but that each should do 
what he thought best to save his own life ; that he so intended 
to act ; and saying this, he departed with his boat. . . . 

The survivors escaped naked as they were born . . . ; and 
as we were then in November, the cold was severe, and our 
bodies were so eniaciated the bones might be counted without 
difficulty, having become the perfect figures of death. . . . 
Five Christians . . . came to such an extremity that they ate 
their dead. . . . [S]o great sickness had come upon me . . . 
I was obliged to remain with the [Indian] people . . . more 
than a year, and because of the hard work they put upon me 
and the harsh treatment, I resolved to flee from them. . . . 
The hardships that I underwent . . . were long to tell, as 
well of peril and privation as of storms and cold. Oftentimes 
they overtook me alone and in the wilderness ; but I came forth 
from them all by the great mercy of God our Lord. 

I was in this country nearly six years. ... In the time 
[since landing in Florida], we traversed from sea to sea; . . . 
a distance ... of two thousand leagues [6,000 miles] ; . . . 
and we learned that on the coast of the South [Pacific] Sea 
there are pearls and great riches, and the best and all the most 
opulent countries are near there. . . . 

That what I have stated in my foregoing narrative is true, 
I subscribe my name. Cabeza de Vaca." ^ 

b. The French in the St. Lawrence Region: 

Jacques Cartier: The New Land called New France (1535). 
"Upon the twentieth day of Aprill, 1534, we departed from the 
Port of S. Malo [France], . . . and with such prosperous 
weather we sailed onwards, that upon the tenth day of May 
we came to Newfoundland. . . . After we had sailed along 
the . . . coast [from May until July], . . . we assembled 



9. F. W. Hodge, The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca (in Jameson's Original 
Narratives of Early American His.ory series), parts of 12-57, 120, 123. 



12 AMERICAN HISTORY 

together all our Captaines, Masters, and Mariners, to have their 
advice what was best to be done, considering that the easterly 
winds began to beare away, and blow, and that the flood was 
so great, . . . and that stormes and tempests began to reigne, 
. . . either we must agree to returne home againe, or els to 
stay there all the yeare. . . . All which opinions being heard 
and considered, we altogether determined to address ourselves 
homeward. . . . 

In . ., . 1535, . . . the 19 of May, ... we [again] 
hoysed sail ... to Newfoundland. . . . [August 17th we 
found] the way and beginning of the great river of Hochelaga 
[the St. Lawrence] and ready way to Canada, which river the 
further it went the narrower it came. . . . Our captaine . . . 
would not at that time proceede any further, till he had seene 
and noted ... if there was in the Saint Lawrence gulf . . . 
any passage toward -the north [Northwest passage] . . . ; 
which thing so soone as we had done, and . . . [found] no 
other passage to be there, ... we departed, . . . purposing 
to go to Canada. . . . [U]p the river . . . there is a village 
. . . called Stadacona [later Quebec], as goodly a plot of 
ground as possibly may be seene . . . ; but behold, as we were 
comming out of the river we met comming against us one of 
the lords of the said village, . . . with many others, . . . who 
. . . endeavoured . to seeke all meanes possible to hinder 

. . . our going to Hochelaga [later Montreal] . . ; our 
captaine answered them, . . . that for all them he would not 
leave off his journey thither. ... In the midst of . . . fields 
is the citie of Hochelaga, placed neere, and as it were joyned 
to a great mountaine . . . that . . . we named . . . Mount 
Roial [Montreal]. . . . After our returne from Hochelaga 
[to St. Croix], . . . from the midst of November untill the 
midst of March [1536], we were kept in amidst the yce above 
two fadomes thicke, and snow above foure foot high and more, 
... in which space there died five and twentie of our best and 
chieftest men, and all the rest were so sicke, that wee thought 
they should never recover againe. . . . Then ... by the 
grace of God we had notice of a certaine tree, whereby we 
all recovered our health. . . . The third of May . . . our 
Captaine . . . commanded Donnaconna [Lord of Stadacona] 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 13 

to be brought, . . . and bade him be merrie, for after he [the 
Captain] had . . . shewed unto the King of France what 
hee had scene, . . . after ten or twelve months, he should 
returne again, and that the King of France would give him 
great rewards. . . . Then upon Monday, being the nineteenth 
of June, we went . . . and with such good prosperous weather 
we sailed . . that upon the sixth of July, 1536, we came to 
the Port of S. Malo. . . ." ^° 

c. French Huguenots in Florida: 

Richard Hakluyf: A notable historic containing foure 
voyages made by certaine French Captaines into Florida : . 
written all, saving the last, by Monsieur Laudonniere, who 
remained there himselfe as the French king's lieutenant a 
yeere and a quarter. Translated out of French into English 
by M. Richard Hakluyt (London, 1600). 

"There are two things which . . have bene the principall 
causes . . . whereof as well they of ancient times, as those 
of our own age have been induced to travel into farre and re- 
mote regions. The first hath beene the naturall desire . . 
to search out the commodities to live happily, plentifully, and 
at ease. . . . The second cause hath bene the multitude of 
people too fruitefull . . . being no longer able to dwell in 
their native soyles . . . oftentimes . . . have pearced even 
into the uttermost regions. , . 

My Lord Admirall of Chastillon, a noble man more de- 
sirous of the publique than of his private benefite, understand- 
ing the pleasure of the king . . to discover new and strange 
Countreys . . . for such an enterprise . . chose Captaine 
John Ribault, . . . [who] set himself to sea the yeere 1562. 
. . [and] having . . . sayled two moneths, . . arrived 
in Florida. . . . [On a] River, (which because of the fair- 
nesse and largenesse thereof wee named Port Royall) . . 
he caused . . . [a] Fort to be made in length . . sixteene 
fathome [96 feet] and thirteene [78 feet] in breadth . . . and 
CcUised victuals and warrelike munition to be brought for the 



10. R. Hakluyt, Voyages to America (Goldsmid ed. 1889), II, parts of 
77-143. 



14 AMERICAN HISTORY 

defence of the place. After [which] ... he determined to 
take his leave of them. . . . But before his departure . . . 
[he left] Captaine Albert ... in this place. . . . 

After . . . our cumming home, from our first voyage 
(which was the twentieth of July, 1562) we found the civil 
warres begun [between Huguenots and Catholics], which was 
in part the cause why our men [in Florida] were not succored, 
. . . whereof it followed that Captaine Albert was killed by 
his souldiers, and the countrey abandoned. ... I embarked 
[for the starting of a new colony] . . . the 22 of Aprill, 1564, 
. . . arrived . . . the 22 of June . . . and ... all resolved, 
namely those which had been with me in the first voyage, that 
it was expedient to seate . . . rather on the River of May 
then on any other. . . . Our Forte was builte in the forme 
of a triangle. I named [it] Caroline in the honor of our Prince 
King Charles. . . . 

While I travailed to purchase friends [among the Indians] 
. . . certaine souldiers of my company were suborned . . . 
by one named la Roquette ... to seeke meanes to dispatch 
me out of the way, and to choose another Captaine in my place. 
... I fell into a sore and grievous sicknesse . . . During 
which sicknesse . . . Le Genre . . . gate him into my 
Apothecarie ... to mingle in my medicine . . . some drugge 
that should make me pitch over the pearch. . . . But the 
Apothecarie denied him. . . . But . . . they layd hands 
on mee, and carried me very sicke . . . prisoner into a shippe, 
. . . wherein I was the space of fifteene days. . . . The 
moneth of May [1565] approaching and no manner of succour 
come out of France, we fell into extreme want of victuals. 
. . This famine held us . . . until! the middest of June. 
. . . [We] began . . . [to] desire to see our native country. 
. . . As each of us were much tormented in minde with these 
. . . cogitations ... I descried four sayles. . . . [T]hey 
were Englishmen [under] . . . Master John Hawkins . . . 
[who offered to] leave me a small ship to transport the rest 
[of the colony to France]. . . . So . . . from that day 
forward wee did nothing but stay for good windes to drive us 
to France. . . . 

As . . . the winde and the tide served well to set savle, 



THE Mx\KING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 15 

which was the eighth and twentieth of August [1565], . . . 
[we] began to descry certain sayles at sea. . . . [It] was 
Captain Ribault. . . . [He] signified unto me the charge which 
he had, praying mee not to returne into France, but to stay 
with him. . . . But loe howe oftentimes misfortune doth 
search out and pursue us, even then when we thinke to be at 
rest ! . . . Sixe great Spanish ships arrived, . . . [but] 
seeing they could not reach . . . the French ships, . . . 
turned back. . . . Wee beganne therefore to fortifie ourselves. 
. . . Nevertheless notwithstanding all our diligence . . . 
[the] troupe of Spanyards which came down . . . led by . . . 
Don Pedro Melendes ... I was not able to withstand . . . 
and gate away into the woods ; where I found certain of my 
men which were escaped. . . . The 25 of September [1565] 
wee set sailes to returne into France. . . . Thus briefly you 
see ... all that happened in New France since the time it 
pleased the king's Majesty to send his subjects thither to dis- 
cover those parts." ^^ 

d. European Claims in North America about 1565: 

M. Rene Laudonniere : America in 1565 (A French Hugue- 
not description of 1565). "That part of the earth which at this 
day we call the fourth part of the world, or America, or rather 
the West India, was unknowen unto our ancestors . . . [and] 
were not discovered by those of our age. . . . Christopher 
Colon [Columbus] did first light upon this land in the yeere 
1592 [1492]. And five years after Americus went thither by 
the commandment of the King of Castile, and gave unto it 
his owne name, whereupon afterward it was called America. 
. . . I will divide it for the better understanding into three 
principall parts. That which is toward the Pole Artie on the 
North is called New France, because that in the yeere 1524 
John V^errazzana, a Florentine, was sent by King Francis the 
first . . . unto these new Regions, where he . . . discovered 
all the coast . . . from . . . the eighth and twentieth unto 
the fiftieth degree . . . ; so that the Spaniardes themselves 



11. R. Hakluyt, Voyages to America (Goldsmid ed. 1889), II, parts of 
408-523. 



16 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . have called this country Terra Francesca. The same 
. . . extendeth . . . from the 25. degree unto the 54. toward 
the North. . . . The easterne part ... is called . . . 
Norumbega. ... In the Westerne part there are many 
knowen countries. . . . The Southern part is called Florida. 
. . . The second part of all America is called Newe Spain. 
It extendeth from . . . twentie three degrees and a halfe, unto 
the ninth degree . . . and it hath many Regions, and many 
Ilandes adjoyning unto it. . . . The third part of America is 
called Peru [South America]. . . . New France is almost as 
great as all our Europe. Howbeit, the most knowen and in- 
habited part thereof is Florida, whither many Frenchmen have 
made divers voyages at sundry times, insomuch that now it is 
the best knowen Countrey which is in all this part of New 
France. . . ." ^- 

QUESTIONS* 

I. (1) For what reason did Europe of Columbus' time wish 
communication with the East? (2) What route to the East 
did Toscanelli suggest? (3) What was the usual way oi 
reaching the East? (4) What do the letters of Columbus in- 
dicate that he believed his discovery to be ? (5) Upon what 
nations did the announcement of the Columbian discovery ap- 
pear to have the greatest immediate effect? (6) What effect 
do Columbus' letters indicate that the discovery had upon his 
career? (7) What appears to have been the motive of the 
Spanish exploration? (8) What were some of the difficulties 
the Spanish explorers encountered? (9) What benefit from 
their exploration? (10) What appears to have been the motive 
of the French explorations in the north? in the south? (11) 
How many of the same difficulties as the Spanish did the 
French encounter? (12) How much of their purpose did the 
French accomplish? (13) What general name was applied to 
all of the Spanish possessions in North America? (14) What 
general name applied to all of the French possessions ? 

II. (1) Write a brief paper on 'The Characteristics of 
Columbus'' from the quotations given here from his letters. 
(2) Compare the motives of the Spanish, French, and English 
voyages to or explorations of America. (3) Make as complete 

12. R. Ilakluyt, Voyages to America (Goldsmid ed., 1889), II, 410-412. 
* See Introduction for explanation of the three lists of questions given. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 17 

a list as you can of the kinds of difficulties or hardships en- 
countered in the exploration of America. (4) How many Eu- 
ropean nations entitled to territorial claims in America at the 
end of this period, and upon what (discovery, exploration, or 
attempted or actual settlement) does each rest? 

III. (1) Why was Europe dissatisfied with existing routes 
to the East? (2) What route to the East were the Portuguese 
searching for, when did they find it, and what effect did their 
finding it have upon the work of Columbus? (3) On what 
ground did the Portuguese claim the lands discovered by 
Columbus? (4) How did the world discovered by Columbus 
come to be named America? (5) What relation did the Norse 
discoveries have to the Columbian discovery? (6) What other 
explorations of the interior of the continent were made by the 
Spanish, and with what results? (7) Make a map showing 
what you regard as the legitimate claims of the various Euro- 
pean nations in America about 1570. 

Text-Book References. — Adams & Trent, 7-19; Ashley, 17-21, 
24-35,37; Channing (revision 1908), 19-40; Hart, 13-17, 31-38; 
James & Sanford, 1-30; Macdonald's Johnston, 2-10, 13; Mc- 
Laughlin, 4-26; McMaster, 9-24; Montgomery (revision 1903), 
1-18; Thomas (revision 1903), 6-14. 



SECTION II 
THE RISE OF RIVAL COLONIZATIONS, 1566 to about 1620 

In the European Reformation struggle, Spain took the 
Catholic side, united English, Dutch, and even French against 
herself, and lost the leadership of Europe. During the 
struggle, England attacked her American treasure-ships, 
ravaged her American settlements, and finally sought to es- 
tablish English colonies in America as rivals to the Spanish. 
These attempts were not successful until after the Refor- 
mation warfare ended, and Spanish power began to decline. 
Then peace, national rivalry, and the commercial spirit born 
of the trade to East and West Indies, led to a successful 
renewal of attempts at colonization, not only by England, 
but also by France and, in time, the Dutch and Swedes. 



18 AMERICAN HISTORY 

The English, operating through the Virginia joint stock 
commercial company, were the first to plant permanently, 
in 1607 locating their colony at Jamestown, where it under- 
went tremendous hardships and discouragements, but finally 
gained its foothold, developing institutions and characteris- 
tics in harmony with its origin and its environment. Just 
as it became firmly established, conflict between the com- 
pany and the king in England, resulted in the overthrow of 
the company and charter, and the transformation of Virginia 
into the first English royal colony in America. 

In 1608, French endeavors at length produced a perma- 
nent colony at Quebec, "and another at Port Royal, on the 
Atlantic Coast, in 1610-1611 ; and these became centers of 
the trade, missionary, and exploring activities of New 
France. Hudson's exploration of the New York region in 
1609 led to individual, then state, and finally national Dutch 
colonization of New Netherland. Dutch growth, however, 
was very slow ; English encroached upon the east, and 
Swedes attempted colonization within the western bounds ; 
and all the while the Dutch colonists were warring with 
their own officials in attempts to secure free trade and pop- 
ular government. 

1. ENGLISH PLANTING OF THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA 
a. Motives of First English Colonization: 

M. Edward Haies: A Report of the Voyages of Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert (1583). [It seems^ probable . . . that the 
countreys lying North of Florida, God hath reserved ... to 
be reduced into Christian civility by the English nation. For 
not long after that Christopher Columbus had discovered the 
West Indies for Spayne, John and Sebastian Cabot made dis- 
covery also of the rest from Florida northwards to the behoof 
of England. And whensoever afterwards the Spanyards (very 
prosperous in all their southern discoveries) did attempt any- 
thing into . . . those regions inclining towards the North, 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 19 

they proved most unhappy, and were at length utterly discour- 
aged ... ; as if God had prescribed limits unto the Spanish 
nation which they might not exceed. . . . The French, as 
they can pretend less title tmto these Northerne parts then 
[than] the Spanyard . . . ; even so God hath not hitherto 
permitted them to establish a possession permanent, . . . not- 
withstanding their manifolde attempts. . . . Then seeing the 
English nation only hath right unto these countreys of America 
from the cape of Florida Northward by the privilege of first 
discovery, which right also seemeth strongly defended on our 
behalfe by the powerful hand of Almighty God, ... it may 
greatly encourage us to prosecute effectually the full posses- 
sion of those so ample and pleasant countreys. . . ." ^ 

Sir George Pcckhmn: A True Report of the Late Dis 
coveries (London, 1583). "I will endeavor ... to proove 
that . . . planting [colonies] in America is an action tending 
to the lawfull enlargement of her Majesties Dominions, com- 
modious to the whole Realme in generall, profitable to the ad- 
venturers in particular, beneficial to the Savages, and a mat- 
ter to be atteined without any great danger or difficultie. And 
lastly, (which is most of all) A thing likewise tending to the 
honour and glory of Almighty God. . . . To what end need 
I endeavour . . . by arguments to prove that by this . . . 
our navie and navigation shalbe inlarged, when as there need- 
eth none other reason than the manifest and late example of 
. . . Spaine and Portugall, who since the first discovery of the 
Indies, have not only mightily inlarged their dominions, greatly 
inriched themselves and their subjects: but have also . . . 
trebled the number of their shippes, masters, and mariners, a 
matter of no small moment and importance ? Besides this, it 
will proove a general benefit unto our countrey, that a great 
number of men which doe now live idlely at home, and are bur- 
thenous, chargeable, and unprofitable to this realme, shall here- 
by be set on work. . . . [As for the] merchants, . . . the 
gaine which now they reap by traffique into other farre coun- 
tries, shal by this trade [to America] returne with lesse charge, 
greater gaine, and more safety. . . . The . . . traffique and 



1. R. Hakluyt, Voyages to America (Goldsmid ed. 1889), I, 322-323. 



20 AMERICAN HISTORY 

planting in those countries shall be unto the Savages themselves 
v'.:ry beneficiall and gainfull. . . . [By] the most glorious 
Gospel . . . they may be brought from falshood to truth, from 
darknesse to light, from the hie way of death to the path of 
life, . . . beside the knowledge how to till and dresse their 
grounds, they shal be reduced from unseemly customes to hon- 
est manners, from disordered riotous routs and companyes to a 
well-governed commonwealth. Then shal her Majesties domin- 
ions be enlarged, her highnesse ancient titles justly confirmed, 
all odious idlenesse from this our Realme utterly banished, and 
. . . the ignorant and barbarous idolaters taught to know 
Christ. . . ."2 

Richard Hakluyf: A Discourse on JJ^csfern Planting (Lon- 
don, 1584). "That this Westerne . . . [planting] will be 
greately for thinlargemente of the gospell of Christe, where- 
unto the princes of the Reformed Religion are chiefly bounde, 
amongste whome her [English] Majestic is principall. . . . 
In all the Kinge of Spaines domynions our men are either in- 
forced with wounded consciences to playe the dissemblinge 
hipocrites, or be drawn to mislike with the state of religion 
mainteyned at home, or cruelly made away in the Inquisition. 
Moreover, he being our mortall enemye, and his empire of late 
beinge increased so mightely . . . this voyage will be a . . . 
speciall meanes . . . [to] bringe Kinge Phillippe from his 
highe throne, and make him cquall to the princes his neigh- 
boures. . . ." ^ 

Spanish Ambassador to England: A Report to the King of 
Spain (London, Oct. 8, 1607). "Saturday night ... I had 
a message . . . that the King [of England] would give me 
an audience . . . Sunday. . . . He received me as usual very 
courteously. ... I told him that y[our] Majesty had ordered 
me to represent to him how contrary to good friendship and 
brotherly feeling it was, that his subjects should dare wish to 
colonize Virginia, when that was a part of the Spanish Indies. 
. . . He answered that he had . . . never understood that 



2. R. Hakluyt, Voyages to America (Goldsmid ed., 1889), I, 373-374; II, 
18, 20, 22, 24, 33. 

i. K. Hakluyt, Voyages to America (Goldsmid ed„ 1889), 11, 175, 180, 
?S9, 2C.L 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 21 

y[oui-] M[ajesty] had any right to it. ... I replied to him 
that it was a condition of the Treaty of Peace, that in no way 
should they go to the Indies. The King said to me that those 
who went, did it at their own '-ifik ind that if they came upon 
them in those parts there would be no complaint should they 
be punished." * 

h. Settlement at Jamestown: 

Extracts frciii Capt. John Smith's "General Hisiorie of 
Virginia" (London, 1624). "It might well be thought, a coun- 
trie so faire (as Virginia is) . . . would long ere this have 
been quietly possessed . . . ; this following treatise shall . . . 
[show] how it came to passe there was no better speed and 
successe. . . . 

Captaine Bartholomew Gosnoll, one of the first movers of 
this plantation, having many yeares solicited many of his 
friends, but found small assistants; at last prevailed with some 
Gentlemen, as Captaine John Smithe . . . and divers others, 
. . . but nothing could be effected, till ... it came to be 
apprehended by certaine of the Nobilitic, Gentry, and Mar- 
chants, so that his Majestie by his letters patents, gave com- 
mission for establishing Councels to direct here [London] . . . 
and to govern and execute there [in the colony]. . . . But 
their orders for government were put in a box, not to be 
opened, nor the governours knowne untill they arrived in Vir- 
ginia. 

Gone ... in search of Virginia, the company was not a 
little discomforted, seeing the Mariners had 3 days passed their 
reckoning and found no land. . . . But God the guider of all 
good actions, . . . did drive them by his providence to their 
desired port. The first land they made they called Cape Henry ; 
where thirtie of them recreating themselves on shore, were as- 
saulted by five salvages, who hurt two of the English very 
dangerously. That night was the box opened, and the orders 
read, in which Bartholomew Gosnold. John Smith, Edward 
Wingfield [and four others] . . . were named to be the Coim- 



4. Alexander Brown, Genesis of the United States, I, l.!0. 



22 AMERICAN HISTORY 

cell. . . . Until the 13 of May they sought a place to plant 
in, then the Councell was sworne, [and] Mr. Wing-field was 
chosen President. . . . 

Now falleth every man to worke, the Councell contrive the 
Fort, the rest cut downe trees to make place to pitch their 
tents ; some provide clapboard to relade the ships, some make 
gardens, some nets, etc. The Salvages often visited us kindly. 
. . . Six weeks being spent in this manner, Captaine Newport 
returned for England with newes ; leaving in Virginia 100. the 
15 of June, 1607. . . . 

Being thus left to our fortunes, it fortuned that within ten 
dayes scarce ten amongst us could either goe, or well stand, 
such extreame weaknes and sicknes oppressed us . . . [for] 
when they departed, there remained neither taverne, beere 
house, nor place of reliefe, but the common Kettell. Had we 
beene as free from all sinnes as gluttony, and drunkennesse, we 
might have beene canonized for Saints ; But our President 
would never have been admitted, for ingrossing to his private 
[use], Oatmeale, . . . Beefe, Eggs, or what not, but the 
Kettell. . . From May to September, those that escaped, 
lived upon Sturgeon, and Sea-crabs, fiftie [colonists] in this 
time we buried, the rest seeing the Presidents projects to es- 
cape these miseries in our Pinnace by flight . . . we deposed 
him. . . . But now was all our provision spent, the Sturgeon 
gone, all helps abandoned, eache houre expecting the fury of 
the Salvages ; when God the patron of all good indeavours, in 
that desperate extremitie so changed the hearts of the Salvages, 
that they brought such plenty of their fruits, and provisions, 
as no man wanted. . . . 

All this time our care was not so much to abandon the 
Countrey ; but the treasurer and Councell in England, were as 
diligent and carefull to supply us. Two good ships they sent us 
with neare a hundred men, well furnished with all things 
could be imagined necessary. . . ." ^ 

The Virginia Company : A True and Sincere declaration of 
the purpose and ends of the Plantation begun in Virginia (Lon- 
don, 1610). "[Captain Newport's] returne gave us no hope 



5. Travels of John Smith (MacLehose edition, 1907), I, 85-89. 91-92, 104. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 23 

of any extraordinary consequence, yet only upon report of the 
Navigableness of the River, pleasure, fertility and scituation 
of the land, . . . we freshly and cheerfully sent in the next 
yeare a like number ; and yet also receiving nothing new, we 
had courage and constancie to releeve them the third time, with 
one hundred more : at which return experience of error to the 
equality of Governors, and some outrages, and follies committed 
by them had a little shaken so tender a body; after consulta- 
tion ... of all the inconveniences, . . . and finding them 
to arise out of two rootes, the Forme of Government, and 
length and danger of the passage. . . . To encounter the first, 
we did resolve and obtain, to renew our Letters Pattents, and 
to procure to ourselves, such ample and large privileges and 
powers . . . [as] to reforme and correct those already dis- 
covered, and to prevent such as in the future might threaten 
us ; and so, to set and furnish out under the conduct of one 
able and absolute Governor, a large supply of five hundred 
men, with some number of families, of wife, children, and serv- 
ants, to take fast holde and roote in that lande. . . . And 
to meete the Second Inconvenience we did also prepare to set 
out, one small ship, for discovery of a shorter way. . . . Now 
. . . [as for the] disasters of this supply . . . who can 
avoid the hand of God or dispute with him? . . . If we cast 
our eye upon the Spanish Conquest of the Indies, how abound- 
ant their stories are of Fleets, Battailes, and Armies lost. . . . 
If we compare the[ir] beginnings, they were meaner than ours, 
and subject to all the same and much more uncertainty. . . . 
O let there be a vertuous emulation between us and the Church 
of Rome . . . ! And let us turne all our contentions upon 
the common enemy of the Name of Christ. . . . Then let us 
. . . pray unto that mercifull and tender God . . . that it 
would please him to blesse and water these feeble beginnings, 
and ... so to nourish this graine of seed, that it may spread 
till all people of the earth admire the greatnesse and seeke the 
shades and fruite thereof. . . ." ^ 



6. Alexander Brown, Genesis of the United States, I, 341-342, 347-348, 
351-352. 



24 AMERICAN HISTORY 

c. Conversion of Virginia into a Rcyal Colony: 

The Virginia Company: Ovcrthrozv of the Company and 
Charter (From an Address by the former officers of the Com- 
pany to the Royal Commissioners, 1625). "The Plantation now 
in Virginia . . . continued about twelve yeares under the 
Governm't . . . wherein it was first intrusted by the Kings 
Majestic. . . , And . . . the Colonie . . . last yeare . . . 
sent a writing signed by the hands of the Generall Assembly, 
. . . wherein . . . [they] declared . . . full of passion and 
griefe . . . [that] rather then to be reduced to live [again] 
under the like Government, [']wee desire . . . that Commis- 
sioners may be sent over with authority to hang us.['] . . . 
In this condicion was the action [colony] lefte by the First 
to the second Governm't w'ch began in the yeare 1619 by the 
choice of Sr Edwin Sandis [Sandys] for Treasurer. . . . 
Under whose Governm't by Gods blessing the Plantation soe 
prospered as by the end of the year 1621 the number of peo- 
ple was increased . . . to . . . about two thousand. . . . 
Many new Plantations were made. . . . , The libertie of a 
Generall Assemblie [House of Burgesses] . . . [was] granted 
them. . . . The Colony grewe into an opinion that they were 
the happiest people in the world. . . . The Plantation being 
growne to this height by the end of the year 1621, it pleased 
God ... to give leave to the enemies thereof, by many pow- 
erfull and most wicked meanes to bring it downe agayne to the 
ground. The first Blowe was a most blowdy massacre, when 
by the Treacherous cruelty of the savages about 400 of o[u]r 
People were slayne . . . [in] 1621 [1622]. But this cruell 
tragedy . . . was second'd by two other sharpe Calamities in 
the very neck one of another ; First, scarcitie in the Colony . . . ; 
w'ch being encreased by the Infection brought in by some 
shipps, there dyed that yeare . . . neare upon 600 more. . . . 
[Then] on a sodayne the Plantation itselfe was by Captaine 
Butler in a certayne writinge Intitled The unmaskinge of 
Virginia . . . fowly disgraced. . . . [Because] the Gov- 
ernm't of the Companie was translated from Sr Thomas Smith 
and Alderman Johnson, into Sr Edwin Sandis, . . . they 
[Smith and Johnson] . . . [determined] the Governm't was 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 2S 

now ... to be questioned and altered. . . . Which to bring 
aliout, these two wayes were used. First, a petition ... to 
his Ma[jes]ty . . . against the latter Governm't and magni- 
f_ving the former . . . [and] desiring a commission to exam- 
ine. . . The second means . . . was to rayse up Captayne 
Butler, who hasting ... to Virginia, where he stayed but a 
few weeks, upon his returne delivered . . . the unmasking 
of Virginia. . . . This . . . not succeeding, . . . certayne 
obscure persons were . . . sent into Virginia, as Commis- 
sion'rs . . . to sift out what they could agaynst the form of 
o[u]r Governm't here and there. . . . These commissioners 
. . . were not idle in further distractinge the Companie. to 
give their assent for surrendering their Pattent, and altringe 
the form of Governm't. . . . W'ch . . . they . . . refused. 
. . . Whereupon a Quo Warranto was directed . . . for the 
calling in of their Pattent. . . . The principal scope of his 
late Ma[jes]t's commission to them, as wee understand was 
that they should finde a better forme of Governm't for the 
Plantations advancement; . . . But as farr as wee can 
understand these commissioners have done nothing. . . .'' '^ 

Captain Nathaniel Butler: The Unmasking of our Colony 
in Virginia (1622). "... I found the plantations generally 
seated upon meer salt marshes, full of infectious boggs and 
muddy creeks and lakes, and hereby subjected to all those 
inconveniences and diseases which are so commonly found in 
the most unsound and most unhealthy parts of England. . . . 

The new people that are yearly sent over . . . find neither 
guest-house, inn, nor any the like place to shroud themselves 
in at their arrival ; no, not so much as a stroke given towards 
any such charitable work. . . . 

Their houses are ge!ierally the worst that ever I saw, . . . 
improvidently and scatteringly seated one from another. . . . 

I found not the least piece of fortification. . . . 

Expecting, according to their printed books, a great forward- 
ness of divers and sundry commodities [industries], ... I 
found not any one of them so much as in any towardness of 



7. L. G. Tyler, Narratives of Early Mrginia (in J. F. Jameson's Original 
Narratives of Early American History series), parts of 432-453. 



26 AMERICAN HISTORY 

being, . . . tobacco only was the business, and for ou^ht that 
I could hear every man madded upon that [and] little thought 
or looked for anything else. . . . 

I found in the Government here not only ignorant and en- 
forced strayings, . . . but wilful and intended ones ; in so 
much as some who urged due conformity have in contempt been 
termed men of law, and were excluded from . . . [their] 
rights. . . . 

There having been, as it is thought, not fewer than ten 
thousand souls transported thither, there are not . . . above 
two thousand of them to be found alive at this present . . . 
many of them also in a sickly and desperate estate. . . ." ^ 

The Virginia Company: A True Anszvcr to Capt. Nathaniel 
Butler (1623). "[Various] planters, masters of ships, and sun- 
dry other persons that had lived long in Virginia and have been 
many times there, . . . presented ... an answer to Captain 
Butler's information ... as followeth : We say that there is 
no place inhabited but what is conveniently habitable. . . . 
[That] new comers [are] entertained and lodged and pro- 
vided for by the Governor in private houses. . . . [That] 
the houses there were most built for use and not for 
ornament, and are so far from being so mean as are reported, 
that throughout his Majesty's dominions here all labouring 
men's houses . . . are in no wise . . . for goodness, to be 
compared unto them. ... It is true there are yet no other 
artificial fortification but pallisades, whereof almost every plan- 
tation hath one. . . . 

Then the Companies' answer to Captain Butler's dismasking 
of Virginia, ... as followeth . . . : [It] doth plainly 
appear that the said information is in all the material parts 
thereof most untrue, and may seem to have been purposely 
framed by the said Captain Butler to raise distemper and 
trouble in the [Virginia] Companies. . . . To the . . . com- 
plaint of the new government . . . [the company replies that 
it is] grounded upon the said Captain's discontent and for that 
he was not accepted here to sit in council with them. . . . To 
the last . . . they say there were never sent above 6,000 to 



8. Collections of Virginia Historical Society, new series, VIII, 171-173. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 27 

Virginia . . . [and] notwithstanding the late massacre . . . 
there are yet remaining aHve in that colony of Virginia to the 
number of 2,500 persons, and that the plantations are again in 
restoring the staple commodities [and] in setting up again. . . ."^ 
Proceedings of the Virginia Company (1623). "At a court 
[meeting] held the 15th of October, 1623, Mr. Deputy ac- 
quainted the [Company] . . . that his Majesty having taken 
into his princely consideration the distressed estate of that col- 
ony, occasioned as it seemeth by miscarriage of the government 
in that Company, which cannot be well remedied but by reducing 
the government into the hands of a fewer number . . . the 
said Company were . . . required ... to resolve whether 
the Company will be content to submit and surrender their 
former charters and accept of a new charter, with the alterations 
above mentioned. . . . Which order being read ... the 
Company seemed amazed at the proposition, so as no man 
spake thereunto for a long time. . . . [Finally], whether the 
Company . . . would surrender up their charter to have a 
new patent . . . being ... put to the question, there were 
only eight hands held up. ... 

At an extraordinary court held the 20th of October, 1623, 
Mr. Deputy put it to the question ... : As many of 
you as be content to submit and surrender the charters you now 
have, and accept of a new charter with the alterations men- 
tioned, . . . hold up your hands. To which only 9 hands 
were held up. Again, as many as will not, hold up their hands. 
To which there was a general erection of hands of the whole 
court, the aforesaid 9 only dissenting. . . . 

At a court held the 12th of November. 1623, Mr. Deputy 
acquainted the [Company] . . . that . . . [it] had been served 
with a process out of the King's Bench, by virtue of a quo 
warranto, ... to know by what authority they claim to be a 

Company. . . ." ^" ^ ,, • 

Proclamation of the King (1625). "Whereas the Collome 
of Virginia . . . hath not hetherto prospered soe happily as 
was hoped and desired, a great Occasion [cause] whereof . . . 

9. Collections of Virginia Hislorical Society, new series, VIII, 175-178. 

192-194 

10. Collections of Virginia Historical Society, new series, VIII, 228-336. 



?8 AMERICAN HISTORY 

[is] conceived to be . . . that the Governement of that Col- 
lonie was comytted to the Companie of Virginia ... of a 
Muhitude of Persons of severall Dispositions, amongst whome 
the Affaires of greatest Moment were and must be ruled by the 
greater Number of \'otes and Voyces ; . . . Wee have thought 
fitt to declare . . . that our full Resolution is, that there maie 
be one uniform Course of Government in and through all our 
whole Monarchic; that the Government of the Collonie of Vir- 
ginia shall immediately depend uppon Our Selfe, and not be 
committed to anie Company, or Corporation . . . ; and . . . 
our Commissioners for those Affaires shall proceede according 
to the tenor of our Commission directed unto them, untill Wee 
shall declare Our further Pleasure therein. . . ." ^^ 

2. NEW FRANCE AND NEW NETHERLAND 

a. French Beginnings of Acadia and Canada: 

Samuel dc Chauiplain: The Founding of Port Royal and 
Quebec, and Discovery of Lake CJunn plain (From his Voyages, 
published at Paris in 1613). ". . . The inclinations of men differ. 
. . . Some aim at gain, some at glory, some at the public weal. The 
greater number are engaged in trade. ... It [trade] has in 
all times caused maritime towns to abound in riches. For this 
reason, many princes have striven to find a northerly route to 
China, in order to facilitate commerce with the Orientals. . . . 
In the year 1496, the King of England commissioned John 
Cabot ... to engage in this search. . . . Don Emanuel, 
king of Portugal, despatched on the same errand Caspar Cor- 
tereal. ... In the years 1534 and 1535 Jacques Cartier re- 
ceived a like commission from King Francis I. . . . Six years 
after, Sieur de Roberval . . . renewed it. . . . In the years 
1576, 1577, and 1578, Sir Martin Frobisher, an Englishman, 
made three voyages along the northern coasts. Seven years 
later Humphrey Gilbert, also an Englishman, set out, . . . but 
suffered shipwreck. ... So many voyages and discoveries 
without result, and attended with so much hardship and ex- 
pense, have caused us French in late years to attempt a per- 



il. E. Hazard, Historical Collections of State Papers, I, 203, 204. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 29 

manent settlement in those lands which we call New France, 
in the hope of thus realizing more easily this object. . . . 

These considerations . . . induced the Marquis de la Roche, 
in 1598, to take a commission from the king for making a 
settlement in the above region. With this object, he landed 
men and supplies on Sable Island: but ... he was obliged 
to abandon his undertaking. . . . After the above, notwith- 
standing all these accidents and • disappointments, Sieur de 
Monts desired to attempt what had been given up in despair, 
and requested a commission for this purpose from his Majesty. 
. . . We set out from Havre de Grace, April 7, 1604. . . . 
On the 13th of May, we arrived at a very fine harbor. . . . Not 
finding any more suitable place . . . [we made] a barricade 
on a little islet a short distance from the main island. . . . 
Sieur de Monts [then] resolved to send his vessels back to 
France, and also Sieur de Pontrincourt, who had come only 
... to explore . . . places suitable for a colony, which he 
desired to found. . . . After the departure of the vessels, 
Sieur de Monts . . . decided to send persons to make discov- 
eries along the coast . . . and he interested me with this 
vi^ork, which I found very agreeable. . . . Winter came upon 
us sooner than we expected, and prevented us from doing many 
things which we had proposed. . . . Durmg the winter, many 
of our company were attacked by . . . scurvy. . . . [The] 
majority of tliem could not rise nor move, and could not even 
be raised upon their feet without falling down in a swoon. 
So that out of seventy-nine, who composed our party, thirty- 
five died. . . . [All] our liquors froze. . . . Cider was dis- 
pensed by the pound. . . . We were obliged to . . . drink 
melted snow, . . . and . . . insufficiency of fuel, . . . 
[with] only salt meat and vegetables . . . produced discon- 
tent in Sieur de Monts and others. . . . Sieur de Monts deter- 
mined to change his location . . . [from] St. Croix ... to 
Port Royal . . . [and] to return to France, in order to peti- 
tion his Majesty to grant him all that might be necessary fof 
his undertaking. . . . The [next] winter was not so sharp 
as the year before. . . . On the 16th of July, the time when 
we were to leave in case the vessels had not returned, . . . 
we set out, . . . [but] near to Cape Sable . . . [we met] 



30 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the secretary of Sicur de Monts . . . [which] caused us to 
turn back. ... I also stayed ... to complete the map of 
the coasts and countries which I had commenced. . . . The 
winter was not so severe as on the preceeding years. . . . We 
spent this winter very pleasantly. . . . Nevertheless, seven 
died [from scurvy]. . . . and another from an arrow wound 
. . . [and having completed our coast explorations] the 3d of 
September, [1606] . . . we put to sea in order to pursue 
our route to St. Malo, . . . the termination of these voyages. 

Having returned to France after a stay of three years in 
New France, I proceeded to Sieur de Monts, and . . . gave 
him the map and plan of the most remarkable coasts and har- 
bors there. Some time afterward, Sieur de Monts determined 
to continue his undertaking, and complete the exploration of 
the interior along the great river St. Lawrence. . . . He hon- 
ored me with his lieutenancy for the voyage. ... I arrived 
there on the 3d of July, when I searched for a place suitable for 
our settlement, but I could find none . . . better . . . than 
the point of Quebec, so called by the savages. . . . The first 
thing we made was the storehouse. . . . The scurvy began 
very late. . . . Eighteen were attacked, and ten died ; five 
others dying of the dysentery. . . . On the 7th of June I set 
out from Quebec . . . for making explorations in the country 
of the Iroquois. . . . [The] fall of the Iroquois [St. Law- 
rence] River . . . we . . . passed . . . with great diffi- 
culty . . . [and] entered the lake which is of great extent, 
say eight or a hundred leagues long. . . . [We] met on the 
29th of the month the Iroquois. They had come to fight. . . . 
When I saw them making a move to fire at us, I rested my 
musket against my cheek, and aimed directly at one of the 
three chiefs. With the same shot, two fell to the ground. 
This caused great alarm among them. . . . they lost courage, 
and took to flight. . . . The spot where this attack took place 
is in the latitude 43° and some minutes, and the lake was called 
Lake Champlain." ^- 



12. W. L. Grant, The Voyages of Champlain (in J. F. Jameson's Original 
Narratives of American History series), parts of 21-166. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 31 

Extract from Champlain's Introduction to his "Voyage" of 
1615. "The strong love, which I have always cherished for the 
exploration of New France, has made me desirous of extend- 
ing more and more my travels over the country. ... To this 
end I have toiled constantly for the past fourteen or fifteen 
years. ... I have not ceased to push on, and visit various 
nations of savages; ... to learn the language, and form rela- 
tions and friendships with the leading men of the villages and 
tribes, in order to lay the foundations of a perfect edifice, as 
well for the glory of God as for the renown of the French. . . . 
I exerted myself to find some good friars, with zeal and af- 
fection for the glory of God, that I might persuade them to 
send some one, or go themselves, with m.e to these countries, 
and try to plant there the faith. . . ." '^ 

b. Dutch Settlements on the Hudson River: 

A Dutch Representation of Nezv Nethcrlcnd in 164Q (From 
an Address by the Colonists of New Netherland to the Govern- 
ment of the United Netherlands, 1649). "Among all the en- 
terprising people in the world, who search for foreign countries, 
navigable waters and trade, those who bear the name of Neth- 
erlanders will very easily be able to hold their rank among the 
fgremost, as is sufficiently known to all those who have in any 
wise saluted the threshold of history. . . . [In] the year . . . 
1609, was the country of which we now propose to speak, first 
found and discovered at the expense of the [Dutch] General 
East India Company — though directing their aim and design 
elsewhere — by the ship de Halve Mane, whereof Henry Hud- 
son was master. ... It was afterwards named New Neth- 
erland by our people. ... It is situate along the north coast 
of America, in the latitude 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 degrees or there- 
abouts. It is bounded on the North East side by New England, 
on the South \^'est by Virginia; ... the North West side is 
partly still unknown. . . . The New Netherland was first dis- 
covered, owned, and settled by Netherlands . . . ; but . . 
considerable dispute has arisen on this point, not only with the 



13. W. L. Grant, X'oyagcs of Champlain, 269-270. 



32 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Swedes, who have Httle pretense, but principally with the Eng- 
lish, who already usurped and settled a great portion thereof. 
After their High Mightinesses, the Lords States General, were 
pleased in the year XV^C and twenty-two [1622], to include 
this Province within the charter of the West India Company, 
. . . four forts have been built, . . . one on the south point 
of Manhattans island, at the junction of the East and North 
[Hudson] rivers. . . . Another called Orange, is in the Colonic 
Renselaerswyck, thirty-six leagues higher up on the west side 
of the last named river . . . ; but there never has been, as yet, 
any difference with foreigners about that [North or Hudson] 
river. On the South [Delaware] river stands Fort Nassou, 
and on the Fresh [Connecticut] river, the [Fort] Good Hope. 
. . . Sometime after the completion on the Fresh River of 
Fcrt Good Hope, . . . [the] English . . . invaded and 
usurped the entire Fresh river, and finally sunk so low in shame- 
Icssness as to have seized in the year 1640, the Company's lands 
around the fort. And when this was protested against, they 
paid no attention to it, . . . The South bay and South [Dela- 
ware] river . . . [is] by many called the second great river 
of New Netherland. . . . This . . . place was taken up and 
colonized by Netherlanders years before any English or Swedes 
came there. [But the] Swedish Governor . . . had a fort 
. . . erected at this place, and took great liberties with every 
one. . . [who] would go up the South river. . . . What right 
these people have to do so we know not. . . . 'Tis to be borne 
in mind, that if these people [the English] come to settle there, 
they will so rapidly spread themselves over every place, that 
shortly neither Dutch nor Swedes will have much to say there ; 
. . . yet with all, the Directors of the Company have not to this 
day paid any attention or regard. . . . Greed hath befooled 
Wisdom ; . . . Strangers . . . enjoy free Privileges and 
Exemptions, the like of which, were our Netherlanders to pos- 
sess, they would (with God's help, without which we can do 
nothing) doubtless flourish as well as, if not better than, the 
F'.nglish. . . . The reasons and causes by which New Neth- 
erland has been reduced to its present low and ruinous condi- 
tion, . . . we here assert in one word, ... is bad govern- 
ment. . . . Trade . . . has . . . fallen off . . . owing 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 33 

to high duties and all the inspections and troubles that accom- 
pany it. . . . Christians are treated almost like Indians in the 
purchase of necessities which they cannot do without ; this 
causes great complaint, distress, and poverty. . . . We in- 
tended to be silent. But the people have . . . been driven 
away by harsh and unwarrantable proceedings, . . . and the 
Directors and their friends have fattened here, . . . having 
played with their employers and the people as the cat plays with 
the mouse. . . . To speak specifically : care ought to be taken 
of the public property. . . . There ought to be also a public 
school. . . . The country must be provided with moral, hon- 
orable, and intelligent rulers who are not very indigent nor yet 
very covetous. . . . Privileges and exemptions . . . could en- 
courage the inhabitants. ... If a Boundary were added in the 
protection, . . . then with God's help everything would, in 
human probablity, go well, and New Netherland could be, in a 
short time, a brave place, able, also, to be of service to the 
Netherland State, to richly repay expended outlays, and to 
thank her benefactors." ^* 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) In how far was hostility to Spain a motive for Eng- 
lish colonization of America? (2) What reasons are given for 
hostility to Spain? (3) Make a list of other motives of Eng- 
lish colonization. (4) What difficulties encountered in the set- 
tlement of the Virginia colony? (5) What explanations given 
for the success of the colony after about 1615? (6) How did 
the creation of a representative legislative body in Virginia lead 
to the revocation of the charter? (7) What changes produced 
by the conversion of Virginia into a royal colony? (8) What 
motives assigned by the French for their attempts at coloniza- 
tion after 1600? (9) Did the French meet with more or less 
difficulties than the English in making permanent settlements? 
(10) By what other colonists was Dutch claim to New Nether- 
land disputed? (11) What beside disputed boundaries helped 
to retard the growth of New Netherland? (12) How many 
colonies, with what names, established in North America by 
1619? 



14. J. R. Brodhead, Documents relative to the Colonial History of New 
Yoik, 1, par^s of 275-318. 



34 AMERICAN HISTORY ■ 

II. (1) Which of the difficulties found in 1600 would not 
be encountered now in establishing colonies in a new country, 
and why not? (2) Write an estimate of the motives of Euro- 
pean colonization in America. (3) Contrast the characteristics 
of English, French, and Dutch colonization. (4) Write a 
paper on "Self-government in the Colonies before 1630." 

III. (1) Explain the relation of the Protestant Reforma- 
tion to the English colonization of Virginia. (2) By whom 
were powers of government exercised in New France? in New 
Netherland? (3) Why did the king revoke the charter of the 
Virginia Company? (4) What is meant by a "royal colony"? 
(5) With what English colonists were Dutch disputing in the 
Connecticut valley ? 

Text-Book References. — Adams & Trent. 20-22. 24-31 ; Ashley, 
35-36, 40-44, 65-67, 87-88 ; Channing (revision 1908) , 40-46, 50-58, 
82-84; Hart, 38-42, 45-48, 65-68; James & Sanford, 31-45, 
68-72, 104-106; Macdonald's Johnston, 14-20, 22, 50-53, 67, 
83-84; McLaughlin, 28-49, 97-101, 130-133; McMaster, 26-34, 
36-39, 60; Montgomery (revision 1905), 19-20, 31-40, 47-53, 63; 
Thomas (revison 1903), 14-24, 39-40. 



SECTION III 

BEGINNING OF RELIGIOUS-POLITICAL COLONIZATION OF 
ENGLISH AMERICA, 1620-1640 

Previous to the reign of Henry VIII, the Catholic re- 
ligion was the established or official religion of England. 
Henry VIII, breaking with the Pope, made himself the head 
of the English church, and called it the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. Loyal Catholics refused to follow him, and con- 
tinued the Catholic organization in England. On the other 
hand, radical English Protestants were dissatisfied with the 
few changes made by Henry and his successors, and formed 
themselves into a group called Puritans. A great majority 
of these Puritans continued to believe in an "established" 
or state church ; but a radical minority began to demand 
separation of church and state, and so obtained among oTier 
names that of Separatist. Thus there came to be four church 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 35 

parties in England : Catholic, Episcopalian, Puritan, and 
Separatist. 

The Episcopalian being the official cliarch, persecuted 
all "dissenters." whether Catholic, I'uritan, or Separatist. 
The persecution reached its climax under the first two Stu- 
arts (James I and Charles I) ; and the Separatists, being the 
most radical and the smallest party, were the first forced 
to leave England. They fled to Holland in 1608 ; but find- 
ing conditions unsatisfactory in that country, in 1620 they 
migrated to America and established the first religious ref- 
ugee colony there, at Plymouth. 

Meanwhile in England afl^airs went from bad to worse 
for the Puritan party. Their religious struggle became a 
political one also, in which they sought to maintain the 
rights of Parliament as against the "divi ne right" of the 
king. Charles I increased the severity of his persecution of 
dissenters, and in 1628-1629 dispensed with Parliament al- 
together. Believing their cause lost, many thousands of 
Puritans then followed the Separatist example, and mi- 
grated to America, to found in Massachusetts a new colony 
where their form of worship might be the established or 
official one instead of the Episcopalian. 

In Massachusetts the Puritans vigorously persecuted 
those who disagreed with the form of worship they had es- 
tablished there ; and this, combined with the increasing num- 
ber of people coming to the new colony, resulted in the grad- 
ual establishment of five other colonies in New England- 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Haven, Maine and New 
Hampshire, in addition to the earlier colony of Plymouth. 
As Maine and New Hampshire were relatively unimportant 
in this period of New England history, however, the source 
extracts given here deal with the founding only of Rhode 
Island, Connecticut and New Haven, in addition to the 
colonies of Massachusetts and Plymouth. 

Partly inspired by the New England example, and partly 



36 AMERICAN HISTORY 

by his ambition to establish a little feudal dominion of his 
own in the New World, Lord Baltimore (first the father, 
and later the son) in 1632-1634 established another colony 
between New England and Virginia, to which he invited the 
persecuted Catholics of England. Only a few came, but for 
the first ten years the colony was distinctly Catholic in 
administration, although tolerating all other faiths. Its early 
history, however, was made exceedingly turbulent by a dis- 
pute with Virginia, out of whose original territory the 
Maryland grant was made to Lord Baltimore. 

1. PILGRIM OR SEPARATIST FOUNDING OF PLYMOUTH 

COLONY 

Extracts from Gov. JVni. Bradford's "History of Plymouth 
Plantation" (1650). "It is well knowne unto the godly and 
judicious, how ever since the first breaking out of the lighte of 
the gospel) [the Reformation] in our Honorable Nation of 
England, . . . what warrs and opposissions ever since Satan 
hath raised, maintained, and continued against the Saints, from 
time to time, in one sorte or other, sometimes by bloody death 
and cruell torments ; other whiles imprisonments, banishments, 
and other hard usages ; as being loath his kingdom should goe 
downe, the trueth prevaile. and the churches of God reverte to 
their ancient puritie, and recover their primittive order, libertie, 
and beautie. But when he could not prevail by . . . bloody 
and barbarous persecutions, . . He then began to sow er- 
rors, heresies, and wonderfull dissentions amongst the profes- 
sours themselves. . . . 

The one side laboured to have the right worship of God 
and discipline of Christ established in the church, according 
to the simplicitie of the gospell. . . . The other partie . . . 
endeavored to have the episcopall dignitie (after the popish 
manner) with their large power . . . [and] with all those 
courts, cannons, and ceremonies ... as formerly upheld 
their antichristian greatnes, and enabled them with lordly and 
tyranous power to persecute the poore servants of God. . . . 
And lamentable it is to see the effects which have followed. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 37 

Religion hath been disgraced, the godly greeved, afflicted, per- 
secuted, and many exiled, sundrie have lost their lives in 
prisones and otherways. On the other hand, sin hath been coun- 
tenanced, ignorance, profannes, and atheisme increased, and the 
papists encouraged to hope again for a day. 

But . . . many became inlightened by the word of God . . . 
and begane ... to see further into things. . . . How not 
only these base and beggerly ceremonies were unlawful!, but 
also that the lordly and tiranous power of the prelats ought 
not to be submitted unto ; which thus, contrary to the freedome 
of the gospell, would load and burden mens consciences, and 
by their compulsive power make a prophane mixture of persons 
and things in the workshop of God. ... So many . . . 
shooke of this yoake of antichristian bondage, and as the 
Lords free people, joyned them selves . . . into a church . . . 
to w'alke in all his wayes . . . made known unto them, what- 
soever it should cost them. . . . And that it cost them some- 
thing this ensewing historic will declare. . . . [For] after 
these things they could not long continue in any peaceable con- 
dition, but were hunted and persecuted on every side, so as 
their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison. 
. . . [So] by a joynte consente they resolved to goe into the 
Low-Countries, wher they heard was freedom of Religion for 
all men. . . . Yet [at first] were they not suffered to goe, but 
the ports and havens were shut against them. . . . [But] after 
they had been thus turmoyled a good while, . . . necessitie 
forste a way for them. . . . And in the end, . . . they all 
gatt over at length. . . . 

After they had lived in this city [Leyden] about some 11. 
or 12. years, (. . . being the whole time of that famose truce 
between that state and the Spaniards.) . . . the sagest mem- 
bers begane both deeply to apprehend their present dangers, and 
wisely to forsee the future, and thinke ... of remooval to 
some other place. Not out of any newfanglednes, or other such 
like giddie humor, . . . but for sundrie weightie and solid 
reasons. . . . [First,] they . . . found . . . the hardnes of 
the countrie to be such, as few . . . would come . . . and 
fewer . . . continue with them. . . . 21y. They saw that 
. . . old age began to steale on manv of them. . . . Thirdly, 



38 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . many of their children . . . were drawne away by evill 
examples into extravagante and dangerous courses, getting the 
raines off their neks, and departing from their parents. . . . 
Lastly, ... a great hope and inward zeall they had of . . . 
propagating and advancing the gospell of the kingdom of Christ 
in . . . remote parts of the world. . . . 

The place they had thoughts on was some of those vast and 
unpeopled countries of America. . . . Some . . . were ernest 
for Guiana, or . . . hott climats ; others were for some parts 
of Virginia, wher the English had already made enterance. . . . 
But at length the conclusion was, to live as a distinct body by 
themselves, under the generall Government of Virginia ; and 
... to sue to his majestic that he would be pleased to grant 
them freedome of Religion. . . . But it prooved a harder peece 
of work then they tooke it for. . . . Yet thus farr they pre- 
vailed, . . . that he would connive at them, and not molest 
them, provided they carried them selves peaceably. . . . 

All things being ... [at last] ready, . . . they sett sayle 
. . . about the 5. of August . . . [and] after longe beating 
at sea they fell with that land which is called Cape Cod. . . . 
Being thus passed the vast ocean, . : . . they had no friends 
to Wellcome them, nor inns to entertaine or refresh their 
weatherbeaten bodys, no houses ... to repaire to. . . . And 
for the season it was winter, and . . . what could they see but 
a hidious and desolate wildernes, full of wild beasts and willd 
men ? 

[A] combination [was] made by them before they came 
ashore, being the first foundation of their governmente in this 
place; occasioned partly by the discontented and mutinous 
speeches of some, . . . [and partly by] the patente they had 
being for Virginia, and not for New England, which belonged 
to an other Government, with which the Virginia Company had 
nothing to doe. . . . The forme was as followeth : ' In the 
name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, . . . 
doe . . . solemnly and mutually . . . covenant and combine 
our selves together into a civill body politick, ... to enact, 
constitute, and frame such just and equall lawes . . . and 
offices ... as shall be thought most meete . . . for the gen- 
erall good of the Colonic, unto which we promise all due sub- 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 39 

mission and obedience.' . . . After this they chose . . . Mr. 
John Carver . . . Their Governor, . . . and ... as time 
w^ould admitte, they mette and consulted of laws and orders. . . . 
But that which was most sadd and lamentable was, that in 
2. or 3. moneths time halfe of their companye dyed, . . . want- 
ing houses and other comforts ; being infected with the scurvie 
and other diseases, . . . so . . . that of 100. and odd persons, 
scarce 50 remained. . . . But . . . spring now approaching, 
it pleased God the mortalitie began to cease amongst them, and 
the sick and lame recovered apace, which put as it were new life 
into them." ^ 

2. PURITAN COLONIZATION OF MASSACHUSETTS 

a. Motives of the Puritan Migration of 1628-1640: 

Captain Edzvard Johnson: A History of Nezv England, or 
IVondcr-lVorking Providence of Sions Savior (London, 1654). 
"When England began to decline in Religion, . . . and instead 
of purging out Popery, a farther compliance was sought not 
onely in vaine Idolatrous Ceremonies, but also in prophaning the 
Sabbath, ... in so much that the multitudes of irreligious 
lascivious and popish affected persons spred the whole land like 
Grasshoppers, in this very time Christ the glorious King of his 
churches, raises an Army out of our English Nation, for free- 
ing his people from their long servitude under usurping Prelacy; 
and because every corner of England was filled with the fury 
of malignant adversaries, Christ creates a New England to mus- 
ter up the first of his Forces in. . . . Christ Jesus . . . stirres 
up his servants as the Heralds of a King to make this Procla- 
mation for Volunteers. . . . All you the people of Christ that 
are here oppressed, imprisoned, and scnrriloiisly derided, gather 
your selves together, your wifes and little ones, and ansz^'er to 
your severall Names as you shall be shipped for his service in 
the Westcrne World, and more especially for planting the united 
Collonics of Nezv England. . . . This Proclamation . . ; 
ran through Cities, Towns, and Villages. . . . Amidst this 



1. W. T. Davis, Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation (in J. F. 
Jameson's Original Narratives of Early American History series), 23, 26-28, 
30-33, 37, 44-46, 49-51, 87, 94-96, 106-108, 114. 



40 AMERICAN HISTORY 

great hurry the sincere servants of Christ . . . taking up some 
serious cogitations, have to begin this worthy worke, ... it 
was thought meete a patterne [a patent or charter] should be 
procured, comprised after the manner of a corporation-company 
or Brotherhood, . . . which accordingly was done. . . . 
[The] Limits of the said Grant bounded on the North with the 
most Northerly part of the pleasant River of Merimech, . . . 
and on the South with the most Southern part of [the] . . . 
River . . . Charles, . . . with power to rule and govern in 
all those parts. . . . [In] way of preparation ... in the 
yeare 1628 . . . [were] sent forth some ... to provide 
against the wants of a Desert Wildernesse, . . . [who] at the 
place of their abode . . . began to build a town, which is called 
Salem. . . . And now behold the severall Regiments of the 
Souldiers of Christ . . . the 12 of July or thereabout 1630 . . . 
first set foote one this Westerne end of the World ; where ar- 
riving in safety, both Men, Women, and Children. . . . The 
first court [meeting for government] was holden . . . the 23. 
of August. When the much honoured John Winthrope Esq. 
was chosen Governour. . . . [The] people after their long 
Voyage were many of them troubled with the scurvy, and some 
of them died : the first station they tooke up was at Charles 
Towne, where they pitched some Tents of Cloath, other built 
them small Huts. . . . The first beginning of this worke 
seemed very dolorous. . . ." - 

Captain Roger Clap: How God Brought Mc to Nciv Eng- 
land (from his Memoirs, published in 1731). "I was born in 
England . . . in . . . 1609. My Father was a Man fearing 
God. . . . Four of us Brethren lived at home : I did desire my 
dear Father . . . that I might live abroad [away from home] 
which he consented to : So I first went ... to live with a 
worthy Gentleman, Mr. William Southcot. . . . [We] went 
every Lord's-Day into the City, where were many famous 
Preachers. ... I then took such a liking unto the Revd. Mr. 
John Warham, that I did desire to live near him. ... I never 
so much as heard of New England until I heard of many godly 
Persons that were going there, and that Mr. Warham was to go 



2. A. B. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I, 366-371. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 41 

also. My Master asked me whether I would go ? I told him 
... I would willingly go. Mind, . . . that it was God that 
did draw me by his Providence out of my Father's Family . . . ; 
It was God put it into my Heart to incline to live abroad ; and 
it was God that made my Father willing. God by his Provi- 
dence brought me near Mr. Warham . . . ; God by his Provi- 
dence moved the Heart of my Master ... to ask me whether 
I would go to New- England : ... It was God that sent Mr. 
Marrick that pious Minister to me, who was unknown to him, 
to seek me out that I might come hither. So God brought me 
out of Plymouth [England] . . . and landed me in Health at 
Nantasket, on the 30th of May — 1630, I being there about the 
Age of twenty one years. Blessed be God that brought mc 
Here!"^ 

b. Early Massachusetts: 

Governor John IViuflirop : A Journal of the Transactions 
and Occurrences in the Settlement of Massachusetts (1630- 
1639). 

Friday, Aug. 27, 1630. "We, of the congregation, kept a 
fast, and chose Mr. Wilson our teacher, and Mr. Nowell an 
elder. . . . We used imposition of hands, but . . . only as a 
sign of election and confirmation, not of any intent that Mr. 
Wilson should renounce his ministry he received in England." 

Sept. 30. "About two in the morning, Mr. Isaac Johnson 
died. . . . He was a holy man, and wise, and died in sweet 
peace. . . . The wolves killed six calves at Salem, and they 
killed one wolf. Thomas Morton adjudged to be imprisoned, 
till he were sent into England, and his house burnt down, for 
his many injuries offered to the Indians, and other misde- 
meanors." 

March 5, 1631. "The ship Lyon . . . arrived at Nantasket. 
She brought Mr. Williams, (a godly minister). . . ." 

March 10. "The frost brake up. . . . The poorer sort of 
people (who lay long in tents, etc.) were much afflicted with 
the scurvy, and many died. . . ." 



3. A. B. Hart, Contemporaries, I, 195-196. 



42 AMERICAN HISTORY 

April 12. "At a court holden at Boston (upon information 
. . . that they of Salem had called Mr. Williams to the office 
of a teacher) a letter was written ... to this effect: that 
whereas Mr. Williams had refused to join with the congrega- 
tion at Boston, because they would tiot make a public declara- 
tion of their repentance for having communion with the 
churches of England, while they lived there ; and, besides, had 
declared his opinion, that the magistrate might not punish the 
breach of the Sabbath, . . . therefore they [the court] mar- 
velled they [Salem] would choose him without advising with 
the council. ..." 

April 21. "The house of John Page . . . was burnt by 
carrying a few coals from one house to another : a coal fell by 
the way and kindled in the leaves." 

June 14. ". . . one Philip Ratcliff . . . being convict . . . 
of the most foul, scandalous invectives against our churches and 
government, was censured to be whipped, lose his ears, and be 
banished the plantation. . . ." 

Sept. 27. "Josias Plaistone and two of his servants were 
censured for stealing corn from Chickatabot and his men [In- 
dians]. . . ." 

Feb. 17, 1632. "The governor and associates called before 
them . . . divers of Watertown ; . . . for that a warrant 
being sent to Watertown for levying of £8 . . . for the for- 
tifying of the new town, the pastor and elder . . . assembled 
the people and delivered their opinions, that it was not safe to 
pay moneys after that sort, for fear of bringing themselves 
and posterity into bondage. . . . The ground of their error 
was . . . that they took this government to be no other but as 
of a mayor and alderman, who have not power to . . . raise 
taxations without the people; but understanding that this gov- 
ernment was rather in the nature of a parliament, and that no 
assistant could be chosen but by the freemen, . . . they were 
fully satisfied. . . ." 

May 8. "Whereas it was (at our first coming) agreed, that 
the freemen should choose the assistants, and they the governor, 
. . . [it was] agreed now, that the governor and assistants 
should all be new chosen every year by the general court [an 
assembly of all the voters of the colony]. . . . Every town 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 43 

chose two men to be at the next court, to advise with the gov- 
ernor and assistants about the raising of a pubHc stock [fund]. 

[No date]. "At Watertown there was ... a great com- 
bat between a mouse and a snake ; and, after a long fight, the 
mouse prevailed and killed the snake. The pastor oit Boston 
. . . learning of it, gave this interpretation : That the snake 
was the devil ; the mouse was a poor contemptible people, which 
God had brought hither, which should overcome Satan here, 
and dispossess him of his kingdom." 

Feb. 22, 1633. "By this ship we had intelligence from our 
friends in England, that Sir Fernando Gorges [and others] . . . 
had preferred a petition to the lords of the privy council against 
us, charging us with many false accusations ; but, through the 
Lord's good providence, and the care of our friends in Eng- 
land, their malicious practice took not effect. The principal 
matter they had against us was, the letters of some indiscreet 
persons among us, who had written against the church govern- 
ment in England. . . ." 

— - -[No date]. "This year [1633] a watermill was built at 
Roxbury. . . . The scarcity of workmen caused them to raise 
their wages to an excessive rate . . . ; and accordingly those 
who had commodities to sell advanced their prices sometime 
double to that they cost in England. . . . Soon after [an] order 
was [made] . . . for prices of commodities . . . not to ex- 
ceed the rate of four pence in the shilling above the prices in 
England. ..." 

Dec. 27, 1633. "The governor and assistants met at Boston, 
and took into consideration a treatise, which Mr. Williams . . . 
had sent to them, . . . wherein, among other things, he dis- 
putes their right to the lands they possessed here, . . , claim- 
ing by the king's grant, they could have no title . . . except 
they compounded with the natives. For this . . . they gave 
order, that he should ... be censured. . . ." 

April 1, 1634. ". . . The freemen deputed two of each 
town to meet ... ; who, having met, devised a sight of the 
patent [charter], and, conceiving thereby that all their laws 
should be made at the general court [a meeting of all voters of 
the colony], repaired to the governor to advise with him aliout it. 



44 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . He told them, that, when the patent was granted, the- number 
of freemen was supposed to be . . . so few, as they might 
well [all] join in making laws; but now they were grown to so 
great a body, as it was not possible for them to make or execute 
laws, but they must choose others for that purpose . . . viz., 
tliey might . . . make an order that, once in the year, a cer- 
tain number should be appointed ... to revise all laws . . . 
and to reform what they found amiss therein ; but not to make 
any new laws, but prefer their grievances to the court of assist- 
ants. . . ." 

May 14, 1634. "At this court it was ordered, that four gen- 
eral courts should be kept every year, and that the whole body 
of the freemen should be present only at the court of election, 
. . . and that, at the other three, every town should send their 
deputies, who should assist in making laws, disposing laws, 
etc. . . ." 

October, 1635. "At this general court, Mr. Williams, the 
teacher at Salem, was again . . . charged with . . . com- 
plaining of the magistrates for injustice, extreme oppression, 
etc., . . . [and with attempting] to persuade them [his own 
church] to renounce communion with all the churches in the 
bay, as full of antichristian pollution. . . . He . . . main- 
tained all his opinions. ... So Mr. Hooker was appointed to 
dispute with him, but could not reduce him from any of his 
errors. So . . . the court sentenced him to depart out of our 
jurisdiction within six weeks. . . ."' 

Feb. 7, 1636. "At a general court it was ordered that a cer- 
tain number of the magistrates should be chosen for life . . . ; 
for that it was showed from the word of God . . . that the 
principal magistrates ought to be for life. . . ." 

1636. "(One Mrs. Hutchinson, a member of the church of 
Boston, a woman of a ready wit and bold spirit, brought over 
with her two dangerous errors: 1. That the person of the Holy 
Ghost dwells in a justified person. 2. That no sanctification 
can help to evidence to us our justification. . . ." 

1637. "The court . . . sent for Mrs. Hutchinson, and 
charged her with divers matters, as . . . reproaching most of 
the ministers . . . for not preaching a covenant of free grace 
. . . ; which were clearly proved against her, though she sought 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 45 

to shift it off. And, after many speeches to and fro, at last she 
was so full as she could not contain, but vented her revelations ; 
amongst which this was one, . . . that she should come into 
New England, and should here be persecuted, and that God 
would ruin us and our posterity, and the whole state, for the 
same. So the court proceeded and banished her. . . ." 

1639. "[An] order [was] drawn to this effect . . . that no 
. . . counsellor shall have any power as a magistrate, nor shall 
do any act as a magistrate . . . except he be annually chosen 
. . . according to the patent [charter]. . . ." 

1639. "The people had long desired a body of laws, and 
thought their condition very unsafe, while so much power 
vested in the discretion of the magistrates. ... At last it was 
referred to Mr. Cotton and Mr. Nathaniel Warde, . . . and 
each of them framed a model, . . . and the two models were 
digested with divers alterations and additions, and . . . sent 
to every town ... to be published. . . ." * 

3. BEGINNINGS OF THE OTHER NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

a. Rhode Island: 

Samuel Gorton: An attempt to Settle in Rhode Island, 
1636-1646 (Extracts from Gorton's "Simplicities Defence 
against the Seven-Headed Church Government of New Eng- 
land," 1646). 

" This Story's strange, but altop^ether true : 
Old Englande Saints are banisht out of New : 

If you with iron Rods, Saints breake and bruise. 
Know then yourselves, that Christ you so will use. 

. . . Whereas we removed ourselves and families out of 
our native Country, . . . only to enjoy the liberty of our con- 
sciences. Landing ... at Boston . . .we found our Country- 
men at great variance in point of Religion, persecuting it very 
hotly in their publique courts unto fines and banishments. . . . ; 
and we understand that they had . . . banished one Master 
Roger Williams . . . for dissenting from them, . . . and 



4. James Savage, Winthrop's History of New England (edition of 1853), 
I. parts of 36-389. 



46 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tbat in the extremity of winter, forcing him to betake himselfe 
into the vast wilderness to sit down amongst the Indians. . . . 
And we plainly perceiving . . . their doctrine was bent onely 
to maintain . . . outward forme of worship, . . . our con- 
sciences could not close with them in such their practices, 
which they perceiving, denyed us the common benefit of the 
Country ; even so much as a place to reside in, . . . [and] 
proceeded against us, as they had done to others, . . . [with] 
confinements, imprisonments, chains, fines, whippings, and ban- 
ishment ... in extremity of winter. . . . [W] hereupon we 
were constrained with the hazard of our lives to betake our- 
selves into a part of the Country called the Nanhyganset [Nar- 
raganset] Bay, buying severall parcels of Land from the In- 
dians there inhabiting; and sat down in, and neer the place 
where Master Roger Williams was . . . ; but when they per- 
ceived those parts to be a refuge for such as were oppressed 
and grieved amongst themselves, . . . then they went about 
to bring those parts to be under their jurisdictions, . . . sent 
up . . . one Captain Cooke . . . who actually assaulted, and 
besieged our . . . Countrymen. . . . [Our] wives and chil- 
dren . . . were affrighted and scattered . . . and divers 
since are dead. . . . [We were] carried captive . . . to . . . 
Massachusetts . . . [and our] goods, cattle, houses, and plan- 
tations were seized upon. . . . [We] are set apart as a for- 
lorne people in the eyes of and b}- the world. . . ." ^ 

b. Connecticut: 

Governor Winthrop: The Settlement of Connecticut (Ex- 
tracts from Winthrop's "Journal," 1631-1636). 

July 12, 1633. "[The] governour of Plimouth . . . came 
. . . to confer about joining in a trade to Connecticut, for 
beaver and hemp . . . [and] to prevent the Dutch, who were 
about to build one [a trading house] ; but . . . we thought 
not fit to meddle with it." 

Sept. 4, 1633. "John Oldham, and three with him, went 
over land to Connecticut, to trade. . . ." 

October, 1633. "The company [colony] of Plimouth sent 



5. Peter Force, Historical Collections, IV, No. 6, pp. 11-12, 18-19, 61, 106. 



THE MAKLXG OF COLONIAL AMERICA 47 

a bark to Connecticut ... to erect a trading house there. 
^^'hen they came, they found the Dutch had built there, and 
did forbid the PHniouth men to proceed ; but they set up their 
house notwithstanding, about a mile above the Dutch. . . ." 

May, 1634. "Those of Newtown complained of . . . want 
of land, especially meadow, and desired leave ... to look out 
either for enlargement or removal, which was granted. . . ." 

Sept. 4, 1634. "... the maine business . . . was about 
the removal of Newtown ... to Connecticut. This matter 
was debated divers days. . . . The principal reasons for their 
removal were, 1. Their want of acconmiodation for their cat- 
tle .. . [because] towns were set so near each to other. 2. 
The fruit fulness and commodiousness of Connecticut, and the 
danger of having it possessed by others, Dutch or English. 3- 
The strong bent of their spirits to remove thither. Against 
these it was said, 1. That . . . they ought not to depart from 
us, being knit to us in one body. ... 2. That . . . we ought 
not to give them leave to depart . . . [since we were] now 
weak and in danger of being assailed . . . [and we] should 
expose them to evident peril, both from the Dutch . . . and 
. . . Indians. ... 3. They might be accommodated at home 
by some enlargement which other towns offered. . . . [On] 
the 24th the court met again. . . . Mr. Cotton preached. . . . 
And it pleased the Lord so to assist him . . . that . . . 
Newtown came and accepted of such enlargement as . . . 
[was] offered them by Boston and Watertown ; and so the fear 
of their removal to Connecticut was removed. 

March, 1635. "Watertown and Roxbury had leave to re- 
move whither they pleased, so as they continued under this 
government. The occasion for their desire to remove was, for 
that all towns in the bay began to be much straitened by their 
own nearness to one another, and their cattle being so much 
increased." 

August, 1635. " The Dorchester men . . . [have] set 
down at Connecticut, near the Plimouth trading house. . . ." 

Oct. 15, 1635. "About sixty men, women, and little chil- 
dren went by land toward Connecticut with their cows, horses, 
and swine. ..." 

Mar. 31, 1636. "Mr. Hooker, pastor of the church of New- 



48 AMERICAN HISTORY 

town, and the most of his congregation, went to Connecticut 
. . . ; and they drove one hundred and sixty cattle, and fed of 
their milk by the way." '^ 

c. New Haven: 

Captain Edzvard Johnson: The Planting of the Colony of 
New Haven, i6^y (from Johnson's "Wonder Working Provi- 
dence"). ". . . the honoured Mr. Eaton . . . accompanied 
with many worthy persons, . . . although they would willingly 
have made their abode under the government of Mattachusets ; 
yet could they finde no place upon the sea-coast for their set- 
tling: the Lord intending to enlarge his peoples border, caused 
them, after much search, to take up a place somewhat more 
southwardly. . . . Here did these godly and sincere servants 
ot Christ . . . gather into church estate, and called to the 
office of a Pastor the reverend, judicious, and godly Mr. Daven- 
port. . . . This church and town soon procur'd some sisters 
[other towns] to take part with her, and among them they 
erected a godly and peaceable Government, and called their 
frontier towne New-haven, . . . most minding the end of her 
[their] coming hither, to keep close to the rule of Christ both 
in Doctrine and Discipline. . . ." ^ - 

d. New England about 1640: 

Governor Bradford: War zvith the Pequot Indians, i6j6- 
i6j/ (Extracts from Bradford's "History of Plymouth Plan- 
tation"). ". . . this year [1636], John Oldom [Oldham], . . . 
an inhabitant of the Massachusetts . . . trading into these 
south parts, . . . upon a quarell betweene him and the Indeans 
was cut off by them. . . . This, with the . . . death of Stone, 
. . . moved them [the English of Massachusetts] ... to 
take revenge and require satisfaction . . . ; but it was done 
so superficially ... as they did litle good. ... In the fore 
part of [1637] . . . the Pequeuts fell openly upon the Eng- 



6. James Savage, Winthrop's History of New England (edition 1853), 
1. parts of 125-223. 

7. A. B. Hart, Contemporaries, I, 414-415. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 49 

liph at Conightecute [Connecticut] . . . and slew sundry of 
them. . . . In the mean time, the Pequeuts . . . sought to 
make peace with the Narigansets, and used very pernicious ar- 
guments to move them thereunto ; as that the English were 
strangers and begane to overspread their countrie, and would de- 
prive them thereof in time. . . . But . . . they [the Naragan- 
sets] resolved to joyne with the English. . . . From Con- 
nightecute . . . they sett out a partie of men . . . and an 
other partie met them from the [Massachusetts] Bay. . . . 
They approached . . . and surrounded [The Pequot fort] . . . 
and . . . assaulted them with great courage. . . . [Some] 
shott at and grapled with them ; others ... brought out fire 
. . . [and] all was quickly on a flame. . . . Those [Pequots] 
that escaped the fire were slaine with the sword. It was con- 
ceived they thus destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a 
fearfull sight to see them thus frying in the fyer, and the 
streams of blood quenching the same. . . . The rest of the 
Pequeuts were wholly driven from their place. . . ."^ -^^V,^^ 

Thomas Lechford: Things I Misliked in Nezv England (from 
his "Plain Dealing or News from New England, 1641"). "I 
doubt whether so much time should be spent in the publique 
Ordinances on the Sabbath day ; . . . whether so much time 
should be spent in ... . catechizing those that are admitted 
to the communion of the church ... or that they should 
make long speeches ; . . . whether any of our Nation that is 
not extremely ignorant or scandalous, should be kept from the 
Communion, or his children from Baptisme. That many thou- 
sands of this Countrey have forgotten the very principles of 
Religion . . . daily taught in England. . . . And . . . [in] 
Prayer ... it may be feared they dull, amaze, confound, 
discourage . . . the most of men . . . when they are . . . 
performed too tediously. . . . [There] is much neglect of 
endeavours, to . . . convert the Indian Nation. . . . [The] 
civill government is not so equally administered. . . ." ® 



8. W. T. Davis, Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation (in J. F. 
Jameson's Original Narratives of American History series), 334-335, 338-339, 
343. 

9. A. B. Hari, Contemporaries, I. 388-389. 



so AMERICAN HISTORY 

4. LORD BALTIMORE'S CATHOLIC COLONY OF 
MARYLAND 

Father Andrew White: Purpose of the Nezv Colony of 
Maryhind (Extract from pamphlet circulated in England in 
1633). "This province, his most serene majesty, in his munifi- 
cence, lately, in the month of June, 1632, gave to the Lord 
Baron of Baltimore and his heirs forever. . . . Therefore 
the most illustrious Baron has resolved immediately to lead a 
colony into that region ; first, and especially, that into the same 
and the neighboring places he may carry the light of the gos- 
pel and of truth where it has been found out that hitherto no 
knowledge of the true God has shone ; then, furthermore, with 
this design, that all the companions of his voyage and labors 
may be admitted to a participation of the profits and honor, 
and that the empire of the realm may be more widely extended. 
Eor this enterprise, with all haste and diligence, he seeks com- 
panions of his voyage — as well those of fortune who may be 
""about to experience a different condition with him, as others 
also. . . . The writings which his most noble father left be- 
hind him, an eye witness and most veracious . . . contain 
statements truly wonderful and almost unheard of, in relation 
to the fertility and excellence of its soil. . . . Wherefore the 
most noble Baron, about the middle of September next . . . 
is ... to make sail, God helping, into these parts. . . ." ^"^ 

John Hammond : The Settlement of Maryland (1656). 
"Maryland is a province not commonly knowne in England, 
because the name of Virginia includes or "clouds it, it is a 
country wholly belonging to that honorable Gentleman the Lord 
of Baltimore, granted him by Pattent . . . and at his charge 
settled, granted for many reasons, and this for one ; that Vir- 
ginia having more land then they could . . . look after, . . . 
first the Duch came and took much, . . . next the Swead, 
. . . and had not this Pattent came and prevented it, . . . 
strangers had pend up our Nation with in the bounds of Vir- 
ginia, whereas now they have ... all Maryland, as it were 
their own, it being only granted for the use of Brittaines and 
Irish." " 



10. Peter Force, Historical Collections, III, No. 12, pp. 3-4. 

11, Peter Force, Historical Collections, III, No. 14, p. 21. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 51 

Virginia's Com plaint against Maryland (From an anony- 
mous pamphlet of 1655, "Virginia and Maryland"). "Lord 
Baltimore pretending, though not truely, the greatest part of 
the Country was unplanted, . . . obtained a Patent, for that 
part now called Maryland, which he hath since held with a few 
people and small adventurers, del^arring of those to whom it 
belonged . . . ; destroying and ruining these formerly seated 
under \"irginia, at the Isle of Kent ; and interdicting trade 
with the Indians for Furs, discovered and begun by the Vir- 
ginians, . . . which since by this means is enjoyed by the 
Dutch and Swedes . . . ; which trade had been solely in the 
English Nation's hands, had not the Lord Baltimore inter- 
dicted it, and seized all Vessels, and displanted their Planta-, 
tions. . . . Such a ground-work had the Patent of Maryland 
upon the Rights and Labours of others ; and as unreasonable 
and unjust have been the whole proceedings and management 
of their Colony and Interests, at their first arrival surprising 
and confiscating many Vessels . . . found trading with the 
Natives under the commissions of Virginia. . . . And profess- 
ing an establishment of the Romish Religion' onely, they sup- 
pressed the poor Protestants among them, and carried on the 
whole frame of their Government in the Lord Proprietaries 
name . . . : not the least mention of the Sovereign Authority 
of England in all their Government; to that purpose . . . 
to protect chiefly the Roman Catholic Religion in the free exer- 
cise thereof. . . . That it were impious to think . . . the 
. . . King being rightly informed, would ever have granted 
such a Patent as this of Maryland, it being neer two third parts 
of the better territory of Virginia. . . ." ^^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What were the points of disagreement between Epis- 
copalian and Puritan church-parties in England, according to 
Bradford's account? (2) What does Bradford say were the 
chief beliefs of those who fled to Holland? (3) Why did the 
Pilgrims or Separatists leave Holland? (4) What difficulties 
encountered by them in settling at Plymouth? (5) What kind 

12. Peter Force, Ilisloiical Collections, II. No. 9, pp. 5-6. 



52 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of government developed by Plymouth colony? (6) What 
conditions in England led to the Puritan migration of 1628- 
1640? (7) Through what kind of organization was the 
Puritan migration carried on? (8) What things disturbed 
Puritan harmony in Massachusetts during the first ten years? 
(9) What was done with persons who disturbed? (10) What 
kind of colonial government developed in Massachusetts by 
1640? (11) What attitude did Massachusetts take towards 
dissenting settlers in Rhode Island? (12) What motives can 
you find for the Connecticut migrations from Massachusetts ? 
(13) What reasons for settlement at New Haven? (14) What 
were the chief complaints brought against New England? 
(15) What do you find as to the motives of Lord Baltimore in 
founding Maryland? (16) Why did Virginia object to the 
settlement of Maryland ? 

II. (1) Make a list of the steps or stages in the development 
of colonial government in Massachusetts. (2) Compare the first 
few years of Plymouth with those of Virginia. (3) Enumer- 
ate what you consider (o) the strong points and (b) the weak 
points of Puritanism in New England. (4) Write a paper on 
"The Growth of New England, 1636-1640." 

HI. (1) Trace the development of church-parties in Eng- 
land from Plenry VIII to James I. (2) What is an "estab- 
lished" or state church? (3) How account for the fact that 
the large Puritan migrations from England did not take place 
until nearly twenty years after the Pilgrim migration? (4) 
Write a paper on "The Joint Stock Company as a Colonizing 
Agency." (5) What other than the religious motive for Bal- 
timore's founding of Maryland colony? 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent, 31-38, 42-46 ; Ashley, 
44-62; Channing (revision 1908), 59, 60-62, 63-79; Hart, 49-59; 
James & Sanford, 46-48. 50-62 ; Macdonald's Johnston, 23, 26, 30- 
34, 41, 55-56; McLaughlin, 54-58, 68-90; McMaster, 34, 40-51. 
70-71; Montgomery (revision 1905), 67-82, 94-96, 99-104, 
107-108, 112-113; Thomas (revision 1903), 24-38, 64. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 53 



SECTION IV 

THE PURITAN REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND AND THE 
COLONIES, 1640-1660 

From 1629 to 1640, Charles I succeeded in getting along 
without a Parliament. Then war with Scotland and the 
urgent need of more money forced him to assemble Parlia- 
ment again. But instead of granting him money, it de- 
manded reforms. Charles adjourned the Parliament and 
tried again to get along without it. Unable to do so, he 
reassembled it ; the controversy over rights was renewed ; 
and war broke out between the king and Parliament, with 
Parliament in control of the government and the king fight- 
ing to recover it. As the Royalists, or king's friends, largely 
went with the king, the Parliament was entirely in control 
of the Puritans. 

But almost at once, two parties arose among the Puri- 
tans. One, the Independents, desired to make England a 
republic, and establish at least religious toleration, per- 
haps even separation of church and state. The other, the 
Presbyterian, wished to reestablish the king in a constitu- 
tional monarch}-, and to make the Presbyterian the state or 
established church. Cromwell and his army took the Inde- 
pendent side, which in 1647-1649 gained control of Parlia- 
ment, seized and executed the king, and declared England 
a republic or Commonwealth with Parliament as its chief 
organ of government. Within three years Cromwell, com- 
ing to disagreement with the Commonwealth Parliament, 
overthrew it, and made himself Protector of England. But 
after his death, his son was unable to maintain the Pro- 
tectorate ; and England, weary of revolution, welcomed the 
return of Charles II as king, on his promise of religious 
toleration and constitutional government. 

In New England, the Puritan colonists sympathized with 



54 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the opponents of the king in England, but refused to permit 
their sympathy to lead them into any acknowledgment of 
Parliamentary jurisdiction over them as colonists. When 
the Massachusetts Presbyterians appealed to the Presbyte- 
rian Parliament in 1646 to compel Massachusetts to admit 
them to the suffrage, Congregational New England not 
only denied their right to appeal to Parliament, but also 
punished them for attempting it. The extracts will show 
other ways also in which the confusion in England was 
taken advantage of by New England to establish colonial 
rights of self-government on a still firmer basis. 

In Virginia, a Royalist governor and assembly took sides 
with the king, and at the beginning of the struggle in Eng- 
land banished from their colony its Puritan settlers. When 
the king was executed, thousands of his Royalist followers 
migrated to Virginia. Encouraged by their coming, the gov- 
^ ernor and assembly refused to acknowledge the supremacy 
I of Parliament until Parliamentary commissioners and ships 
1 actually appeared ; then they surrendered on generous terms, 
and ATrginia nominally came under Puritan control, al- 
though in reality governed by its assembly, which knew 
enough to rule moderately while the Puritans were in con- 
trol in England. 

The Puritans expelled from Virginia migrated to Mary- 
land where they were received on liberal terms and with 
religious toleration. Some of their leaders, however, took 
advantage of the situation to stir up a rebellion against the 
Catholic proprietor and government, and the control of the 
province was twice wrested from the proprietary officials, 
and twice restored to them, the last time (1657) at the or- 
der of Cromwell himself. As the outcome of the disturb- 
ances, however, the government of the colony, although still 
in the proprietor's name, became dominantly Protestant in- 
stead of Catholic, but with toleration of Catholic colonists. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 55 

1. THE PURITAN REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND 

Thomas May, Esq.: Causes of the Civil War in England 
(Extracts from a pamphlet by May, London, 1655). "Forty 
years old was King Charles, and fifteen years had he reigned 
when this Parliament was called, so long had the Laws been 
violated, (more than under any King), the Liberties of the 
people invaded, and the authority of Parliament, by which 
Laws and Liberties are supported, trodden under foot, which 
had, by degrees, much discontented the English Nation. . . . 
The King, in the meantime, by many illegal ways, raised 
money through England ; great sums he borrowed of the un- 
willing people, by privy seals; and ship money, the greatest 
of all taxes, was levied upon them. Nor was there any remedy 
left : for the Ji^^c^ges . . . were enforced to serve the King's 
will . . . ; until the fatal Coal, which afterwards was blown 
into so great a fire through the three Kingdoms, began to be 
kindled in the year 1637, by a design which the King had . . . 
to make a confornu'ty of church-worship . . . between the two 
Kingdoms of England and Scotland. . . . For now . . . 
the Parliament of England was begun [after eleven years' sus- 
pension]. The King was very urgent with his Parliament to 
give money . . . for a War against Scotlaixl. ... It was 
answered by many Members . . . that redress of Grievances 
was the chief end of Parliaments, and should go before sub- 
sidies. . . ." ^ 

Clement Walker (as "Theophilns Verax") : Parties in the 
Puritan Revolution, i6jo-i6j3 (from a pamphlet published by 
Walker in 1648). "The Kingdom being overgrown with Pre- 
rogative, Corruption, and Superstition, (the fruits of a long 
and lazy peace) by a long discontinuance of Parliaments; at 
last, by Providence, His Majesty was necessitated to call a 
Parliament, the only fit College of Physicians to purge the 
much-distempered Body of the Commonwealth. In this Par- 
liament a contest between the King's Prerogative and the peo- 
ple's Laws and Liberties begat a War. The Divines on both 
sides, out of their Pulpits, sounding an alarm thereto ; and not 



1. F. j\Iaseres, Select Tracts rela.ing to the Civil Wars in England, I, 
2-3, 10. 



56 AMERICAN HISTORY 

only Sermons but Declarations of Parliament and the National 
Council, holding forth to the people the defence of their Re- 
ligion, Laws, Liberties, and Properties ; inflamed the people to 
the rage of battel ; as the elephant is enraged at the sight of 
red." . . . [The] leading men . . . [of] Parliament . . . 
divided themselves into two factions, or Juntoes, of Presbyte- 
rians and Independents, seeming to look only upon the church, 
but . . . involving also the interest of the Commonwealth. 
The common people of the two Houses, following . . . the 
example of their leaders, dividing themselves also. . . . The 
Independent groundeth his strength upon the Army, which if 
he can heep-up, he hopes to give the Law to all ; and to produce 
that great Chimera, Liberty of conscience. . . . The Presby- 
terians have three Pillars to support them, . . . the City 
[London], In-land Garrisons, Supernumerary forces . . . : 
to which may be added the Presbyters themselves, who, by over- 
awing men's Consciences with their Doctrine, will subdue and 
work men's minds, like wax, to receive any impression of bond- 
age that tyranny and oppression can set before them ; as they 
do in Scotland. . . . The Popish Clergy draw all Civil affairs 
. . . under their jurisdiction . . . ; the Presbyterians do the 
same thing. . . . What is the odds?"- 

Lord Holies: The Triumph of the Independents, 1642-1649 
(From Memoirs of Denizil, Lord Holies). "The wisest of men 
saw it to be a great evil, that Servants should ride on Horses ; 
an evil, now both seen and felt in this unhappy kingdom. The 
meanest of men, the basest and vilest of the nation, the lowest 
of the people, have got the power into their hands ; trampled 
upon the Crown ; baffled and misused the Parliament ; violated 
the Laws ; . . . cast off all fear of God and Man ; and now 
lord it over the persons and estates of all sorts and ranks of 
men, from the King on his Throne, to the Beggar in his Cot- 
tage. . . . When, in the beginning of this Parliament, in the 
year 1642, we had made some progress, in a Parliamentary way, 
to the relieving of many of our grievances, and reforming 
many abuses both in Church and State, ... it pleased God 
. . . to send a spirit of division between the King and the 



2. F. Maseres, Select Tracts, etc., I, 333-334, 345-347. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 57 

Parliament ; and things grew to that height, that both of them 
appealed to the Sword. . . . [Some] Members of Parliament 
. . . declared themselves, to desire nothing but the settlement 
of the Kingdom, in the honour and greatness of the King, and 
in. the happiness and safety of the People. . . . Whilst these 
men acted in the simplicity of»their hearts, there was another 
generation of men, . . . which had further designs, ... to 
ruin the King, and as many of the Nobility, and Gentry as they 
could ; alter the Government ; and have no order in the Church, 
nor power in the State, over them. . . . [In] all debates con- 
cerning applications for Peace, [they combined] to drive us to 
extremities, demanding unreasonable things. . . . Then was 
there nothing but expelling Members out of the House on the 
least information. . . . [Then] they . . . carried on their 
design of new-modelling their army, . . . [thereby placing] 
the whole force of the Kingdom ... in the hands of their 
Creatures. . . . Then City and Country . . . petition the 
Parliament for the disbanding of the Army . . . and the 
Parliament was well-disposed to comply with their desires. 
. . . [But] the officers . . . engaged the soldiers to . . . 
enter into a kind of a league and combination . . . against 
the Parliament, . . . they have power in their hands, and 
the kingdom shall feel it ; the Parliament shall not only give 
them what they will have, but do what they will have done, 
or smart for it. . . . To this end they march-up in a hostile 
way towards London . . . ; instead of a generous resistance 
to the insolence of perfidous servants, . . . Parliament . . . 
deliver-up themselves and the Kingdom, . . . and suffer Mr. 
Cromwell to saddle, ride, switch, and spur them, at his pleas- 
ure. . . ."^ 

Thomas Hohbcs: The Rise and Fall of the Conimonzvcalth 
and Protectorate, 164Q-1660 (Extracts from his pamphlet "Be- 
hemoth," London, 1660). "The Fanaticks . . . frame[d] a 
Petition for Justice against the King . . . [and] took the 
King . . . for . . . trial. . . . The King persisted in 
denying the authority of the Court . . . [but finally] prom- 
ised ... to abide the Judgement of the Court. . . . The 



3. F. Maseres, Select Tracts, etc., I, parts of 191-252. 



58 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Commissioners . . . told him . . . [this] was but an- 
other Denial of the Court's Jurisdiction. . . . Then tlic 
King answering, that he had no more to say, . . . the sen- 
tence of Death was read ; and the same upon . , . Jan. 30, 
executed. ... In this year [1649] the Rump . . . made 
England a free State . . . and Commonwealth. . . . They 
. . . themselves would be the People's Masters. . . . In 
the year 1652 . . . Cromwell was . . . quarreling with 
the Rump . . . and ... set his Foot upon the Neck of 
this Long Parliament . . . the 23d of April . . . 1653. 
. . . And for this Action he was more applauded by the 
People, than for any of his Victories in the [Dutch] War. 
. . . [Then] he called a [new] Parliament, and gave it 
the Supreme Power, to the end that they should give it to 
him again. . . . And so he got the Sovereignty . . . 
and . . . was installed Protector. . . . [In 1658] the 
House of Commons . . . fell to questioning . . . the 
Power newly placed in the Protector. Therefore going to 
the House he made a speech to them, ending in these words : 
By the living God I must, and do, dissolve you. . . . Septem- 
ber the third [1658], the Protector died. . . . Being impor- 
tuned to name his Successor, he nam'd his Son Richard. . . . 
In the beginning of 1659, . . . his Heart and his Party failing 
him, ... he signed a Resignation of his Protectorship . . . ; 
and thus the Rump recovered their Authority . . . [only to] 
lose it again to a Committee of Safety, and again recover it 
. . . [by the assistance of] General Monk, . , . [who] came 
to Westminister with the secluded Members, . . . and replaced 
them in the House amongst the Rumpers ; so that now the same 
Cattle that were in the Plouse of Commons in 1640 . . . are 
all there again. . . . They were re-established with two Con- 
ditions. One . . . [was] to send-out Writs . . . for new 
elections. . . . That brought in the King. . . . This New Par- 
liament began to sit April 25th, 1660. How soon these called-in 
the King; with what Joy and Triumph he was received, . . . 
you know as well as I. ... I have seen in this Revolution a 
circular Motion of the Sovereign Power . . . from King 
Charles the First to the Long Parliament, from thence to the 
Rump, from the Rump to Oliver Cromwell, and then back 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 59 

again from Richard Cromwell to the Rump, thence to the Long 
Parliament, and thence to King Charles the Second; where 
long may it remain ! " * 

2. EFFECTS OF PURITAN REVOLUTION UPON THE 
NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

a. Attitude of New England towards Puritan Government in 
Old England: 

Extracts from the Proceedings of the General Court of 
Aiassachusetts ( 1644-1660). 

May 29, 1644. "Whereas the civil warrs and dissentions in 
our native country . . . cause divisions in many places . . . 
in America, some professing themselves for the king, and oth- 
ers for the Parliament, ... it is therefore ordered, that what 
persons soever shall, by word, writing, or action, endeavour to 
disturb our peace ... by drawing a party, under pretence 
that he is for the King of England; and . . . against Par- 
liament, shallbe accounted as an offender . . . against this 
common wealth, and to be proceeded with either capitally or 
otherwise, according to the quality and degree of his offence." 

May 14, 1645. "To the Right Honoralile the Lords and 
Commons of the high Court of Parliament. . . . The humble 
Petition of the Court of Massachusetts . . . sheweth, . . . 
that ... a ship . . . being peaceably trading in our har- 
bour, was surprized by Captaine Stagge, without our license, 
. . . [and] being called to account for the same, hee shewed 
us a commission from the authority of this high court [Parlia- - 
ment]. . . . May it therefore please this high Court . . . 
that no such attempts may l)e made hereafter upon any shipps 
in our harbours, or of any of our confederates in New Eng- 
land. . . ." 

Nov. 4, 1646. "To the Right Honourable . . . [Parliamen- 
tary] commissioners for forraigne plantacions. . . . [A]ppeals 
[to Parliament] we have not admitted, being assured they can- 
not stand [be consistent with] the liberty and power granted us 
by our charter, . . . [for] it would be destructive to all gov- 



4. F. Mascrcs, Select Tracts, etc., II, parts of 601652. 



60 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ernment, both in the honor and also in the power of it. if it 
should be in the liberty of delinquents to evade the sentence of 
justice, and force us, by appeals, to follow them into England, 
where the evidences and circumstances of facts cannot be so 
clearly held forth as in their proper place." 

Oct. 19, 1652. "Itt is ordered, that the severall churches of 
this jurisdiction shall observe and keepe the tenth day of 
November next as a solemn day of humiliation. ... In re- 
gard of England: 1st, the warres being great betweene them 
and the Hollanders ; 2, the increase of errors and haeresies ; 
Sly, that God would be pleased to give us favor in the hearts 
of the Parliament, counsell of state, the gennerall and army. 

June 9, 1654. ''The Gennerall Court having received . . . 
a letter from . . . the Lord Protector of the commonwealth 
of England, . . . this Court . . . declares, that though they 
vmderstand that this colony is not in such a capacitje as . . . 
to send forth . . . numbers of men, . . . yet doo freely con- 
sent, and give libertje to his highnes commissioners ... to 
raise within our jurisdiction . . . five hundred voluntires . . . 
to asist them in their enterprise against the Dutch. . . . "^ 

b. The New England Confederation: 

Articles of Confederation bcticixt the Plantations of Massa- 
chusetts, Plinwiith, Connecticut, and Nezv Haven (1643). ". . . 
Whereas ... in our settling . . . we are . . . dispersed 
upon the sea-coasts, ... so that we cannot . . . with conve- 
nience communicate in one Government . . . ; and . . . 
forasmuch as the Natives have ... of late combined against 
us. And seeing by reason of the sad distractions in England 
. . . by which . . . we are hindered . . . from . . . 
reaping those comfortable fruits of protection which . . . we 
might expect; we therefore doe conceive it our bounden duty 
. . . to enter into a present Consociation . . . for mutual 
help and strength. . . . 



5. N. B. Shurtleff, Records of Massachusetts Bay, II, 69, 121; III, 97; 
IV, 108-109, 195. Abbreviations have been spelled in full; otherwise, repro 
duced as in the original record. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 61 

I. Wherefore it is fully Agreed . • . . That they all be 
. . . called by the name of. The United Colonies of New Eng- 
land. 

II. The said United Colonies . . . doe . . . hereby enter 
into a firm and perpetuall league of friendship and amity, for 
offence and defence, mutuall advice and succour, upon all just 
occasions, both for preserving and propagating the truth, and 
liberties of the Gospel, and for their own mutuall safety, and 
wellfare. . . . 

IV. It is also by these Confederates agreed, That the charge 
of all just Wars . . . shall ... be born[e] by all the parts 
of this Confederation, in different proportions, according to 
their different abilities. . . ." 

VI. It is also agreed. That for the managing and con- 
cluding of all affairs, . . . two Commissioners shall be chosen 
by, and out of the foure Jurisdictions, namely two for the 
Massachusets, two for Plimouth, two for Connecticut, and two 
for New-haven, being all in church-fellowship with us, which 
shall bring full power from their severall generall Courts re- 
spectively, to hear, examine, weigh, and determine all affaires 
of war, or peace, . . . receiving of more confederates, . . . 
and all things of like nature, which are the proper consequences 
of such a Confederation, . . . not intermedling with the Gov- 
ernment of any of the Jurisdictions, which ... is preserved 
intirely to themselves. . . . 

VIII. It is also agreed, That the Commissioners . . . en- 
deavour to frame and establish Agreements and Orders in gen- 
erall cases of a civil nature, wherein all the Plantations are in- 
terested, for preserving peace amongst themselves, and pre- 
venting ... all occasions of war, or differences with others, 
. . . how all the Jurisdictions may carry it towards the Indians, 
that they neither grow insolent, nor be injured without due 
satisfaction. ... It is also agreed, that if any Servant run 
away from his Master, into any other of these Confederated 
Jurisdictions, that . . . the said Servant shall be delivered 
... to his Master. . . . " ^ 



6. Wm. MacDonald, Select Charters, 94-101. 



62 AMERICAN HISTORY 

c. The Presbyterian Appeal, and Its Suppression: 

Dr. Robert Cliild and Others: A Remonstrance and Petition 
to the Government of Massachusetts (May 19, 1646). ". . . 
Whereas there are many thousands in these Plantations of the 
English Nation free-born, quiet, peaceable men, . . . known 
friends to the honourable and victorious Houses of ParHament, 
. . . who are . . . not being permitted to beare the least 
office . . . [nor] so much, as to have any Vote in choosing 
. . . Civil or Military Officers ; notwithstanding they have 
. . . paid all . . . taxes . . , : We therefore desire, that 
civil liberty and freedome be forthwith granted to all truly 
English . . . without imposing any Oaths of Covenants on 
them. . . . Whereas there are divers sober, righteous and 
godly men . . . [who] are detained from the Seals of the 
Covenant of Free Grace [/. e., from Congregational church 
membership], because . . . they will not take these churches 
covenants . . . [and yet] are compelled, under a severe Fine, 
every Lord's day, to appear at the Congregation, . . . and 
in some places forced to contribute to the maintenance of those 
Ministers, who vouchsafe not to take them into their Flock. 
. . . We therefore humbly intreat you ... to give liberty to 
the Members of the Churches of England not scandalous in 
their lives ... to be taken into your Congregations, and to 
enjoy with you all those liberties and ordinances Christ hath 
purchased for them . . . ; that the Seals of the Covenant may 
be applied to them . . . ; or otherwise to grant liberty to set- 
tle themselves here in a church-way according to the best 
Reformations of England and Scotland. . . ." ' 

Major John Child: A Relation of the Effects this Petition 
Produced (1647). ''Though this Petition of Dr. Child was 
in a peaceable way presented . . . ; yet . . . the Elders . . . 
publikely used several Expressions . . . to . . . the . . . 
end . . . that it was a seditious Petition, . . . subversive both 
to Church and Commonwealth . . . ; some calling those that 
so Petitioned . . . Sons of Belial, Judasses, Sons of Corah, 
. . . which seemed not to arise from a Gospel Spirit ; . . . 
yea publikely exhorting Authority to lay hold upon those Peti- 



7. Peter Force, Historical Collections, IV, No. 3, pp. 11-13. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 63 

tioners. which the same night they did. Nor were th'e Magis- 
trates . . . altogether silent, but spake in the same key. . . . 
Now at the next sitting of the General Court, six of the seven 
that Petitioned, were sent for' . . . [and] charged . . . with 
great offences . . . against the Court and Government. . . . 
And the Cause afterwards came to Hearing, notwithstanding 
they did appeal to the high court of Parliament . . . ; they 
were Fined, . . . [and] two of them . . . had their trunks 
and Studies broke up, and their Papers taken away, and im- 
prisoned close prisoners, and are in danger of their lives by 
reason of that Capitall Law [of Massachusetts, that reads :] 
If any man . . . shall . . . attempt the alteration ... of 
our Frame of Polity or Government fundamentally, he shall be 
put to death." « 

Major John Child: The Presbyterian Appeal (From his 
pamphlet of 1647, "New England's Jonas cast up at London"). 
"... First, they give out of my Brother and others, that they 
desire a Toleration of all Religions. . . . 41y, that their Peti- 
tion ... to the Parliam[ent] (which they had named Jonas) 
in a Ship called the Supply, being in a storme neer Silly, out of 
horror of conscience, the Petition was . . . thrown over- 
board and that then the storm immediately ceased, and they 
miraculously saved. . . . Concerning [this] ... it was as 
followeth. When the . . . ship . . . from New England 
was almost ready to come . . . Mr. Cotton . . . took occa- 
sion to say. That if any shall carry any Writings, Complaints 
against the people of God, ... it would be as Jonas in the 
ship. . . . Whereupon, having great storms (as could not be 
otherwise expected [in the winter season] ) , . . . a woman 
. . . came up from between the Decks about midnight . . . 
to Mr. William Vassall . . . [and] earnestly desired him, if 
there were any Jonas in the ship, ... it might be thrown 
overboard . . . : but he answered her, He had nothing but a 
Petition to the Parliament that they might enjoy the liberty of 
English subjects, and that could be no Jonas. . . . After this 
she went to . . . Mr. Tho. Fowle . . . who told her he had 
nothing but the copy of the Petition ... to the Court at 



8. Peter Force, Historical Collections, IV, No. 3, pp. 15-17, 



64 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Boston. ... So she took it . . . and it was thrown over- 
board : but the storm did not leave us . . . for ... at least 
14 days . . . [and] the Petition to Parliament was still in the 
ship, . . . [and is] here in London to be seen and made use 
of, in convenient time." ^ 

Congregational Synod of New England: A Platform of 
Church Discipline (Cambridge, Mass., 1648). "The . . . 
church is either triumphant or militant. Triumphant, the num- 
ber of them, who are glorified in heaven ; militant, the number 
of them, who are conflicting with their enemies upon earth. 
The state of the members of the militant visible church [is], 
. . . since the coming of Christ, only Congregational. . . . 
The doors of the churches of Christ upon earth, do not by God's 
appointment stand so wide open, that all sorts of people good 
and bad, may freely enter therein at their pleasure, . . . but 
such as are admitted thereto, as members, ought to be exam- 
in'd and tried first, whether they be fit and meet to be received 
into church-society or not. . . . Altho' churches be distinct 
. . . and equal, . . . Synods orderly assembled, . . . and 
rightly proceeding, . . . we acknowledge as the ordinance of 
Christ : and . . . necessary to the well-being of churches, for 
the establishment of truth and peace therein. . . . Magistrates 
have power to call a Synod. . . . The power and authority 
of magistrates is not for the restraining of churches, . . . but 
for helping in and furthering thereof. . . . The end of the 
magistrates office is not only the quiet and peaceable life of the 
subject in matters of honesty and righteousness, but also in 
matters of godliness. . . . Idolatry, . . . prophanation of the 
Lord's day. . . . disturbing the peaceable administration and 
exercise of the worship and holy things of God. . . . and the 
like. . . . are to be restrained and punished by civil author- 
ity." 1° 



9. Peter Force, Historical Collections. IV. No. 3, pp. 3-4, 18-20. 

10. Cotton Mather, Ecclesiastical History of New England, II, parts of 
183-203. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 65 

3. EFFECTS OF PURITAN REVOLUTION UPON THE 
COLONY OF VIRGINIA 

a Expulsion of the Puritans from Virginia: 

General Assembly of Virginia: A Law against Puritan Dis- 
senters (March, 1643). "For the preservation of the puritie 
of doctrine and unitie of the church, it is enacted that all min- 
isters whatsoever which shall reside in the collony are to be 
conformable to the orders and constitutions of the church of 
Blngland, and the laws therein established, and not otherwise to 
be admitted to teach or preach publickly or privately, and that 
the Gov. and Counsel do take care that all nonconformists upon 
notice of them shall be compelled to depart the collony with 
all conveniences." ^^ 

"John Hammond: Puritan Migration from Virginia to Mary- 
land, 164^164^ (From his pamphlet, "Leah and Rachel," Lon- 
don, 1656). "And there was in Virginia a certaine people con- 
giegated into a church, calling themselves Independents, which 
daily encreasing, severall consultations were had by . . . that 
Coloney, how to suppresse and extinguish them. . . . [FJirst 
their Pastor was banished, next their other Teachers, then many 
. . . clapt up in prison, . . . and lastly in a condition of ban- 
ishment, so that they knew not in those straights how to dispose 
of themselves. Maryland . . . was courted by them as a ref- 
uge, the Lord Proprietor and his Governor solicited to, and 
severall addresses and treaties made for their admittance, . . . 
their conditions were pittied, their propositions were barkened 
to and agree [d] on, which was that they should have convenient 
portions of land assigned them, libertie of conscience and privi- 
lege to choose their owne officers, and hold courts within them- 
selves, all was granted them, they had a whole County of the 
richest land in the province, . . . and nothing was . . . 
exacted from them, but appeales to the Provincial court, quit- 
rents, and an oath of fidelitie to the Proprietor. An assembly 
was called . . . after their comming over (consisting as well 
of themselves as of the rest) and ... an act passed that all 
professing in Jesus Christ should have equall justice, privileges 



11. W. W. Hening. Statutes of \irginia, I, 277. 



66 AMERICAN HISTORY 

and benefits in that province, and that none on penaltie . . . 
should disturb each other in their severall professions, nor give 
. . . terms ... of Roundheads, sectarie, Independent, Jesuit, 
Papist, etc. . . . They sat downe joyfully, following their 
vocations chearfully, trad[e] increased in their province, and 
divers others were by this incouraged and invited over from 
Virginia." ^- 

b- Virginia's Defiance of Parliament, 1649-1652: 

Colonel Norzvood: Royalist Migration to Virginia (1649). 
"The month of August, Anno 1649, being the time I engag'd to 
meet my two comrades ... at London, ... to seek our 
fortunes in Virginia (pursuant to our agreement the year be- 
fore in Holland) all parties very punctually appear'd, . . . 
and were all still in the same mind, . . . our inclinations . . . 
rather quicken'd by the new changes we saw in the state of 
things . . . : For if our spirits were somewhat depressed in 
contemplation of a barbarous restraint upon the person of our 
king in the isle of Wight; to what horrors and despairs must 
our minds be reduced at the bloody and bitter stroke of his 
assassination . . . ? This unparallel'd butchery . . . [and] 
the sad prospect of affairs . . . gave such a damp to all the 
royal party . . . that a very considerable number of nobility, 
clergy, and gentry . . . did fly from their native country, as 
from a place infected with the plague. ... Of the number 
who chose to steer their course for America, such of them as 
inclin'd to try their fortunes at . . . the . . . [West Indian] 
Islands, were . . . men . . . who wanted not money . . . 
to . . . the carrying on the sugar works : And this consider- 
ation alone was enough to determine our choice for Virginia. 
. . . [The] governor . . . was not only . . . kind to me 
. . . but, on many occasions, he shew'd great respect to all the 
royal party, who made that colony their refuge. ... His house 
and purse were open to all that were so qualify 'd. . . ." ^^ 

General Assembly of Virginia: An act in Defence of the 
King (October, 1649). "Be it . . . declared and enacted, 



12. Peter Force, Historical Collections, III, No. 14, pp. 22-23. 

13. Peter I'orce, Historical Collections, III, No. 10, pp. 3-4, 50. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 67 

. . . That what person soever . . . shall go about to defend 
or maintain the late traiterous proceedings against the . . . 
King of most happy memory, . . . shall be adjudged an ac- 
cessory ... to the death of the . . . King, and shall be pro- 
ceeded against for the same. . . . That what person soever 
sliall . . . indeavor to insinuate and doubt . . . concerning 
the undoubted and inherent right of his Majesty that now is 
[Charles II] to the collony of Virginia, and all his majesties 
dominions, . . . shall be adjudged [guilty of] high treason: 
. . . That what person soever, by false reports and malicious 
rumors shall spread abroad, among the people, any thing tend- 
ing to change of government, or to the lessening of the power 
and authority of the Governor or government either in civill 
o: ecclesiastical causes, . . . shall suffer such punishment 
even to severity as shall be thought fitt. . . ." ^* 

Governor Berkeley: No Surrender to Parliamcyit (Speech 
before the Assembly, March 17, 1652). "Gentlemen, you per- 
ceave by the Declaration, that the men of Westminister have 
set out . . . how they meane to deale with you hereafter. . . . 
[The] strength of their argument runs onely thus : we have laid 
violent hands on your Land-Lord, possess'd his Manner house 
where you used to pay your rents, therefore tender your re- 
spects to the same house you once reverenced : . . . Surely 
Gentlemen we are more slaves by nature, then their power can 
make us if we suffer ourselves to be shaken with these paper 
bulletts and those on my life are the heaviest they Either can 
or will send us. . . . God hath separated you from the guilt 
of the crying blood of our Pious Sovereigne of ever blessed 
memory : But mistake not Gentlemen part of it will yet staine 
your garments if you willingly submit to those murtherers hands 
that shed it. . . . [\V]hat is it can be hoped for in a change, 
which we have not already ? Is it liberty ? The sun looks not 
upon a people more free than we are from all oppression. Is 
it wealth ? . . . Industry & thrift in a short time may bring 
us to ... it. . . . Is it . . . peace ? The Indians, God be 
blessed, round about us are subdued : we can only feare the 
Londoners But, Gentlemen, by the Grace of God, we 



14. W. W. liening, Suatutcs of Virginia, I, 360-351. 



68 AMERICAN HISTORY 

will not so tamely part with our King, and all these blessings, 
... do but follow me, I will either lead you to victory, or loose 
a life which I cannot more gloriously sacrifice than for my 
loyalty and your security." ^^ 

c. Surrender of Virginia to the Parliamentary Commission, 1652: 

Articles of Agreement between the Parliamentary Commis- 
sioners and the Virginia Assembly (Mar. 12, 1652). "First 
. . . that . . . Virginia . . . shall . . . remaine in due 
obedience ... to the common wealth of England, . . . And 
that this submission ... be acknowledged a voluntary act not 
forced . . . upon the countrey. . . . Secondly, that the Grand 
Assembly as formerly shall convene and transact the affairs of 
Virginia. . . . 3dly. That there shall be a full . . . in- 
dempnitie of all acts, words, or writings done or spoken against 
the parliament of England. . . . 4thly. That Virginia shall 
have and enjoy the antient bounds and lymitts granted by the 
charters of the former Kings, and that we shall seek a new 
charter from the Parliament to that purpose. . . . 7thly. That 
the people of Virginia have free trade as the people of England 
do . . . according to the lawes of that commonwealth, and that 
Virginia shall enjoy all privileges equall with any English 
plantations in America. 8thly. That Virginia shall be free 
from all taxes, customs and impositions whatsoever, and none 
to be imposed on them without consent of the Grand Assem- 
bly. . . . llthly. That the use of the books of common prayer 
shall be permitted for one yeare. . . . Provided that those 
things which relate to kingshipp or that government be not 
used publicly. . . ." ^^ 

4. EFFECTS OF PURITAN REVOLUTION UPON THE 
COLONY OF MARYLAND 

a. Puritan Seizures of the Government of Maryland: 

John Hammond: The JVrestiiig of the Government from the 
Proprietary Officers (From his pamphlet, ''Leah and Rachel," 



15. E. D. Neill, Virginia Carolorum, 212, 215. 

16. W. W. Hening, Statutes of Virginia, I, 363-364. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 69 

London, 1656). ". . . These people [the Puritans from Vir- 
ginia] finding themselves in a capacitie ... to oversway 
those that had so received and reheved them. Began to pick 
quarrells, first with the Papists, next with the oath [of alle- 
giance to the Proprietor], and lastly declared their averseness 
to all conformitie, wholy aiming (as themselves since confessed) 
to deprive the Lord Proprietor of all his interest in that coun- 
try, and make it their own. . . . Amongst others that became 
tenants in the aforesaid distress [i. e., when expelled from Vir- 
ginia] was one Richard Bennett Merchant, who . . . upon the 
setting forth of a fleet intended for the reducement of Vir- 
ginia, the said Bennett and one Claiborne (a pestilent enemie 
to the wel-faire of that province and the Lord Proprietor . . .) 
having a commission [from Parliament] ... to reduce Vir- 
ginia . . . although they knew Maryland to be excluded and 
dasht out of their Commission, yet because the commission 
mentioned the Bay of Chesapeack . . . were resolved to . . . 
stretch their commission to the prejudice of Maryland and 
becoming abbetters and confederals with those serpents that 
have been so taken in, presumed to alter the government and 
take away the [Proprietary] governours Commission, putting 
in others in their place. . . . But it was not religion . . . 
they stood upon, it was that sweete, that rich, that large Coun- 
try they aimed at; and therefore agreed amongst themselves 
to frame petitions ... to themselves ... to ease . . . 
pretended sufferings [of the inhabitants], and then come with 
aims, and againe make the Province their own, exalting them- 
selves in all places of trust and command, totally expulsing the 
[Proprietary] Governer, and all the hospitable Proprietors of- 
ficers out of their places. . . . The [Proprietary] Governor 
desirous to reclaim . . . takes a partie . . . and sailes into 
those parts, [but] one Roger Heamans who had a great ship 
. . . fires at them and enforces them to the first share. . . . 
[And now] these formerly distressed supplicants for admittance 
[from Virginia to Maryland] . . . supposing their Conquest 
unquestionable, . . . condemn ... to death . . . Foure 
[of the Proprietary officials] . . . ; the rest . . . were 
Amerced, Fined and Plundered. . . . [His] Highnesse [Crom- 
well] sent a gracious command to Bennet, and all others, not 



70 AMERICAN HISTORY 

lo disturb the Lord Baltiniores Officers, nor People in Maryland 
. . . ; yet they still hold . . . the said Province. . . . Thus 
have they brought to desolation, one of the happiest Planta- 
tions that ever Englishmen set foot in. . . ." ^'' 

A Defence of the Puritan Actions (From an anonymous 
pamphlet, "Lord Baltimore's Case uncased and answered," Lon- 
don, 1655). "And "tis notoriously known that all the Lord Bal- 
tamore's Governors usually took the Kings part against the 
Parliament; and his Brother, . . . Governor . . . while he 
lived there, ever declared himself against them. . . . They 
did with zeal proclaim the Kings Son, Charles the Second, at 
Maryland. . . . The Commissioners that were employed by the 
Parliament to Reduce Virginia . . . were commanded to Re- 
duce all the Plantations in the Bay of Chesapik. . . . They 
saw not how they could decline this service, knowing how con- 
trary to . . . the Honor and Interest of the Parliament, the 
Government of Maryland was exercised . . . ; they knew his 
Governor has always bore affection to the Kings side, that 
Charles the Second . . . was proclaimed here, that the Coun- 
cil were all Papists, or indifferently affected, and that they re- 
fused to Govern the people by the Laws of England. . . . 
[The] Commissioners . . . bore with a long time onely by 
Letters out of Virginia . . . and protested against their [Pro- 
prietary officers'] actings ; but they continued obstinate. But 
about a year since Lord Baltimore sends over Instructions . . . 
to seize the Lands and Estates of all such as would not take the 
Oath of fidelity. . . . But the people of Maryland generally 
cibhorred this Oath . . . ; whereupon those Commissioners 
. . . after many solicitations . . . were necessitated to pre- 
vent greater mischief and the present mine of hundreds of 
Families to interpose and have that Oath suspended, and the 
Government managed in the Lord Protector's name ; . . . 
which being denied, . . . they re-assumed the Government out 
of those hands that so ill-managed it, and placed it in others 
for the time being under his Highness the Lord Protector, un- 
til he should please to signifie his further pleasure. . . ." ^** 



17. Peter Force, Historical Collections, III, No. 14. pp. 23-26. 

18. Peter Force, Historical Collections, II, No. 9, pp. 11, 14-15. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 71 

Puritan Govcrmnent of Maryland: An Act Concerning Re- 
ligion (October, 1654). ". . . That none who profess and 
Exe[r]cise the Popish Religion Commonly known by the Name 
of the Roman Catholick Religion can be protected in this Prov- 
ince by the Lawes of England formerly Established and yet 
unrepealed . . . but are to be restrained from the Exercise 
thereof. . . ." ^^ 

b. Restoration of Maryland to Its Proprietor: 

Lord Baltimore : The Restoration of the Proprietary Govern- 
ment in Maryland, 1656 (From Baltimore's Instructions to the 
Maryland Council, Oct. 23, 1656). ". . . Upon his Lordship's 
complaint to his Highness the Lord Protector, that he was in- 
terrupted in his Rights and Jurisdictions in Maryland by Rich- 
ard Bennett . . . and others, . . . his Highness was pleased 
to refer the same ... to the examinations of the Lords Com- 
missioners Whitlock and Widdrington who did accordingly ex- 
amine the matter of Fact and made their Report to his High- 
ness . . . the last of May, 1656. . . ." -° 

Articles of Agreement on the Restoration of Maryland 
(Made by Proprietor and Protectorate Commissioners, 1657). 
". . . That all . . . officers . . . with all other persons . . . 
on both sides . . . [be] freed from any charge or questioning 
for any act . . . since the first of December, 1649. . . . That 
no person whatsoever within this Province shall . . . bee 
deemed or hereafter made uncapable of Electing, or to be 
Elected to all future Assemblys. . . . That the Oath of Fidel- 
ity shall not be pressed upon the people now resident within 
this Province, but instead ... an agreement ... to sub- 
mit to the authority of . . . Lord Baltimore . . . according 
to his Pattent. . . ." -^ 



19. W. H. Browne, Proceedings of the General Assembly of Maryland, 
1637-1664 (Archives of Maryland), 341. 

20. W. H. Browne, Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1636-1667 
(Archives of Maryland), 324. 

21. W. H. Browne, Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1636-1667 
(Archives of Maryland), 370-371. 



72 AMERICAN HISTORY 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) Why was Charles I compelled to call a Parliament 
in 1640, after eleven years without one? (2) What attitude did 
Parliament take, and with what results? (3) What parties 
appeared in Parliament after the outbreak of war, and what 
did each stand for? (4) Which party was in control in 1642- 
1649? in 1649-1652? in 1652-1660? (5) What was the out- 
come of the Revolution? (6) Did New England approve of the 
Puritan Revolution in Old England? (7) What did it fear 
from that Revolution? (8) What did the New England Pres- 
byterians ask from Parliament? (9) What did they get? 
(10) What are given as the motives for the organization of the 
New England Confederation? (11) What was the first ef- 
fect of the Puritan Revolution upon Virginia? (12) What 
produced a still stronger Royalist sentiment in Virginia after 
1649? (13) What attitude did Virginia take towards the Eng- 
lish Commonwealth? (14) What caused it to change that at- 
titude? (15) What do you think the terms on which it sur- 
rendered to Parliament signify? (16) Where did the Puritans 
go who were banished from Virginia? (17) Were they wel- 
come there? (18) What did they do after they settled there? 
(19) What attitude did they take towards dissent there, after 
they came into control? (20) What was the outcome of their 
course of action? 

II. (1) Which colony do you regard as most affected by 
the Puritan Revolution in England ? Explain how. (2) What 
new traits of Puritan character brought out by this period? 
(3) Write a brief account of the Presbyterian Appeal to Par- 
liament. (4) Was the New England Confederation "state's- 
rights" or "national" in character? 

III. (1) What was the "colonial policy" of the Common- 
wealth and Protectorate — what laws or actions in regard to the 
colonies? (2) What other motives than those given here are 
assigned for the attitude of New England? (3) Compare the 
organs and powers of the New England Confederation with 
those of our national government to-day. (4) Why was Vir- 
ginia so unfriendly to the Puritan Revolution? (5) Find what 
your reference books say as to the Puritan actions in Maryland 
during this period. 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent, 38-40,46-48, Ashley, 
58,60-61; Channing (revision 1908), 62, 79-82, 91 ; Hart, 60-62, 
James & Sanford, 63-66; Macdonald's Johnston, 27, 34-35, 
36-39, 43, 57; McLaughlin, 49-54, 59-60, 90-93; McMaster, 
51-52; Montgomery (revision 1905), 41-43, 83-86, 96, 109-111; 
Thomas (revision 1903), 38, 64-65, 70, 75-76. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 7Z 

SECTION V 
REACTION AND REBELLION, 1660-1689 

In England, the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 
1660 brought on a three-cornered struggle, partly political, 
but chiefly over religious affairs. The Episcopal majority 
in Parliament attempted to enforce uniformity to the estab- 
lished Episcopal Church. The King (first Charles II and 
then James II), Catholic in sympathy, endeavored to outwit 
Parliament by Royal proclamations offering toleration to 
all dissenters, including Catholics. The Puritan minority in 
Parliament fought for toleration of Protestant dissent only, 
preferring persecution rather than any toleration that would 
include Catholics. Finally, fear that the king was intending 
to call the French and Spanish to aid him in overthrowing 
Protestantism and reestablishing Catholicism in England, 
induced Parliament to offer the English throne to a Protest- 
ant member of the royal family, William III of Holland. 
Thereupon James II fled to France, William and his wife 
Mary were crowned constitutional sovereigns of England, 
and Parliament took the place of the king as the real head u 
of the English government. 

As soon as the failure of the Puritan revolution in Eng- 
land began to be evident, the Virginia assembly recalled 
Royalist Governor Berkeley. Governor Berkeley then con- 
tinued the existing assembly, without new elections, for fif- 
teen years. This "Long Assembly" passed laws restricting 
the suffrage and otherwise lessening popular control of the 
government, while Virginia officials from governor down 
entered upon a reign of arbitrary and more or less corrupt 
administration, especially neglectful of the frontier people 
and their needs. Against this reactionary administration 
Nathaniel Bacon headed an insurrection in 1676. Bacon 
died of fever, and his movement went to pieces; but as a 



74 AMERICAN HISTORY 

result of it biennial election of the Assembly was recovered 
for the colony, and a few other of the former grievances 
redressed. 

In New England, the Restoration brought a royal attack 
upon New Haven colony, for its harboring of the judges 
who had decreed the death of Charles I, and upon Massa- 
chusetts for its independent attitude towards England. New 
Haven was merged with Connecticut; liberal new charters 
were given to both Connecticut and Rhode Island in order 
to build up rivals of Massachusetts ; and a demand was made 
for the surrender of the Massachusetts charter. Complica- 
tions in Europe diverted the king's attention from New 
England for some time after 1665 ; but in 1684 the struggle 
was renewed, this time not only against Massachusetts, but 
against all of the other New England colonies, and New 
York as well. The charters were taken away from all of 
■ them, they were merged into one general "Dominion of 
New England," and Governor Andros and a Royal Council 
given authority to rule over them without any restraint by 
colonial assemblies. 

The Restoration period was one of expansion as well as 
reaction. Friends of the king obtained a grant for and es- 
tablished a new colony in Carolina, with religious tolera- 
I tion as one of its fundamental laws. Hostility between 
\ Dutch and English in Europe was made the occasion for 
seizing New Netherland and converting it into the English 
colonies of New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. But 
more important than either of these was the beginning of an 
English Quaker movement into New Jersey, that led Wil- 
liam Penn to a decision to try here a "holy experiment" in 
popular government and religious toleration, and thus pro- 
duced the colony of Pennsylvania. 

When news of the overthrow of King James II reached 
the Colonies in 1689, it found them ripe for revolt against 
the arbitrary rule of James' royal officials in America. New 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 73 

Entjland and New York led the way, with revolutions against 
Governor Andros. The extracts quoted tell the story of 
these two larger movements, but omit any reference to sim- 
ilar but lesser revolts in all of the other Colonies except 
Virginia. 

1. BACON'S REBELLION IN VIRGINIA 

a. Reactionary Policy of Virginia Assembly and Governor 
after the Restoration, 1660-1676: 

Acts of flic Virginia Assembly, i66o-i66(). March, 1660. 
"Whereas by reason of the late frequent distractions (which 
God in his mercy putt a suddaine period to) there being in Eng- 
land noe resident absolute and gen'll. confessed power ; Be it 
enacted . . . That the supreame power of the government of 
this country shall be resident in the Assembly. ..." 

March, 1660. " Bee it enacted, That the honourable Sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley bee Governour ... of Virginia. And that he 
governe according to the auncient lawes of England and the 
established lawes of this country. . . ." 

March, 1662. "That for the . . . orderly manageing all 
parociall affaires, . . . twelve of the most able men of each 
parish be by the major part of the said parish, chosen to be ves- 
trymen . . . [and] in case of the death of any vestry man, or 
his departure out of the parish, that the . . . minister and 
vestry make choice of another to supply his roonie. And . . . 
none shall be admitted to be of the vestry that doe not take 
the oath of allegiance and supremacy to his majesty and sub- 
scribe to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline of the 
church of England." 

1669. "Whereas the usuall way of chuseing burgesses by 
the votes of all . . . freemen . . . who haveing little interest 
. . . doe . . . make tumults at the election to the disturb- 
ance of his majesties place . . . ; It is hereby enacted, that 
none but freeholders [land owners] . . . answerable to the 
publique for the levies [taxes] shall hereafter have a voice 
in the election of any burgesses. . . ." ^ 



1. W. W. Hening, Statutes of Virginia, I, 530; II, 44-45. 280. 



76 AMERICAN HISTORY 

b. Rebellion Led by Nathaniel Bacon, 1676: 

A Member of the House of Burgesses in 1676: The Begin- 
ning of Bacon's Rebellion (From a letter of 1705). "In these 
frightfull times [of Indian attack on the Virginia frontiers] 
Frequent complaints of bloodsheds were sent to S'r Wm. Berke- 
ley (then Govern'r), . . . which were as often answered 
with promises of assistance. These . . . grew impatient at 
the many slaughters . . . and rose for their own defence, 
. . . choosing Mr. Bacon for their leader . . . [and] humbly 
beseeching a comission to go against those Indians at their 
own charge which his hono'r as often promised but did not 
send. . . . [Finding] no com'n come, they, marched into the 
wilderness in quest of these Indians after whom the Govern'r 
sent his proclamacion, denouncing all rebells, who should not 
return within a limited day . . . ; but Mr. Bacon with 57 men 
proceeded . . . [and] slew 150 Indians. . . . From hence they 
return'd home where writts were come up to elect members for 
an assembly, when Mr. Bacon was unanimously chosen for 
one, who coming down the river ... he was [seized and] 
carried down to the Govern'r and by him receiv'd with . . . 
the following words, ' Mr. Bacon have you forgot to be a 
gentleman. No, may it please yo'r honour answer'd Mr. Ba- 
con ; then replyed the Gover'r I'll take yo'r parol, and gave 
him his liberty. . . .' [When the] assembly . . . met . . . 
then did Mr. Bacon upon one knee at the bar deliver a sheet 
of paper confessing his crimes, and begging pardon . . . 
whereto . . . [the governor] answered ... I forgive you. 
. . . Whilst some dales passed . . . one morning early a 
bruit [rumor] ran about the town Bacon is fled. ... In three 
or four dales after this escape. . . . Mr. Bacon was ... at 
the head of four hundred men . . . [and] in less than 4 dales 
. . . entered the town [Jamestown], without being withstood 
. . . [and] came with a file of fusileers . . . [to] the corner 
of the state house. . . . Next day there was a rumour the 
govern'r and councill had agreed Mr. Bacon shou'd have a 
comission to go [as] generall of the forces. . . . Wee of 
the house proceeded to finish the bill for the war . . . [when] 
the govern'r sent us a letter directed to his majesty, wherein 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 71 

were these words, ' I have above 30 years governed the most 
flourishing country the sun ever shone over, but am now en- 
compassed with rebellion like waters, . . . Appendix. ... I 
. . . myself have heard him [Bacon] (in his familiar discourse) 
insinuate as if [he thought he had] . . . prospect of finding 
. . . some expedient not only to repaire his great loss [from 
Indian attacks], but . . . [also] to see those abuses rectified 
that the countrey was oppressed with through . . . the . . . 
despotick methods of the govern'r. . . ." - 

Acts of Virginia Assembly under Bacon's control (June, 
1676). "Act I. . . . Whereas the many outrages, cruell mur- 
ders, and violent incursions dayly committed ... by the bar- 
barous Indians, . . . hath inevitably drawne us upon a neces- 
sity of declareing warr against them, . . . actuall warr and 
open hostilitie, is . . . hereby pronounced and declared. ..." 

"Act V. . . . Whereas divers complaints have bin made 
throughout the country of the abuses and other ill-management 
o^ divers offices, . . . Bee it enacted, . . . that noe person 
. . . shall . . . enjoy the office of sheriff e . . . more 
than one yeare successively, . . . that noe person . . . 
shall hold . ... any two . . . offices ... at one and the 
same time . . . ; that if . . . any officer . . . take 
. . . any summe . . . over and above what is allowed 
his [as fees] ... by the acts ... of assembly, . . . 
[he] shall pay unto the party greived . . . forty pounds 
of tobacco for every pound soe wrongfully taken. . . . " 

"Act VI. . . . Whereas the long continuance of ves- 
tries in severall parishes ... is presented as a greivance, 
. . . Bee it enacted, . . . that it shall and may be law- 
full . . . for the freeholders and freemen of every parish 
. . . by the majoritie of votes to elect . . . the vestrie 
of the parish . . . once in every three yeares. ..." 

"Act VII. . . . Bee it enacted, . . . that the act of assembly 
. . . which forbids freemen to have votes in the election of 
burgesses be repealed, and that they may be admitted together 
with the freeholders and householders to vote as formerly in 
such elections. . . ." 



2. Peter Force, Historical Collections, I, No. 8, pp. 8-12, 15-18, 25. 



78 AMERICAN HISTORY 

"Act VIII. . . . Bee it enacted . . . that some of the 
. . . inhabitants of each county, equal in number to the 
number of justices appointed by the . . . governour for said 
countie be yearly chosen as . . . representatives ... to 
meet . . . and ... to have equal votes w^ith . . . the 
said justices in laying the countie assessments, and of making 
wholesome by lawes for the good of their counties." ^ 

c. Outcome of the Rebellion: 

Mrs. An. Cotton: The Death of Nathaniel Bacon (From a 
letter written to "]\Ir. C. H." in 1676). "This worke being 
over, and orders taken for ... [a new] Assemblye . . . 
the Generall [Bacon] once more sitts out to finde the Indians. 
. . . Sr. William ... to prevent Bacons designs by the 
Assembley, returns . . . with a bout 1000 souldiers . . . 
to James towne. . . . Bacon, by a swift march . . . comes 
to Towne, to ye consternation of all in it, and there blocks 
the Governour up. . . . With in too or three days 
. . .. reships himself ... to Accomack; leaving Bacon to 
enter the place at his pleasure, which he did the next morning. 
. . . and the night following burns it downe .to the ground 
to prevent a futer seege, as hee saide. Which Flagrant, and 
Flagitious Act performed, he . . . marcheth . . . [to] York 
. . . and begin to provide for a nother expedition a gainst the 
Indian . . . ; which while he was contriveing. Death summons 
him. . . ."" 

Governor JJllliani Berkeley: A List of Those that have 
been executed for ye late Rebellion in Virginia. ". . . One 
Johnson, a stirer up of the people to sedition but no fighter. 
. . . .One Barlow, one of Cromwell's soldiers, very active in 
this rebellion. . . . One Hall, a Clerk of a County, but more 
useful to the rebels than 40 army men — that dyed very penitent 
confessing his rebellion against his King and his ingratitude 
to me. . . . One Drummond, a Scotchman that we all sup- 
pose was the originall cause of the whole rebellion . . . [and 
10 others]." 5 



3. W. W. Hening, Statutes of Virginia, II, paPiS of 341 35 

4. Peter Force, Historical Collections, I, No. 9, pp. 7-9. 

5. Peter Force, No. 10. pp. 3-4, 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 79 

King Charles the Second: Instructions to Governor Berke- 
ley of Virginia (Nov. 13, 1676). "You . . . shalbe noe more 
obliged to call an assembly once every yeare, but only once in 
two yeares. . . . Alsoe . . . fourteene dayes shalbe the time 
. . . for their sitting and noe longer. . . . You shall take 
care that the members of the assembly be elected only by free- 
holders, as being more agreeable to the custome of England. 
. . . You shall endeavour to make a good peace with the neigh- 
bour Indians. . . . Immediately upon the arrival! of our . . . 
commissioners you shall call a new assembly, the late assem- 
bly to be . . . desolved. . . . You shall declare null and void 
all the proceedings of the late assembly, wherein the said 
Nathaniel! Bacon and his accomplices were pardoned, and vio- 
lence offered to the assembly. . . . You shall reduce the salary 
of the assembly of members to such a moderate proportion as 
may be noe grievance to the countrey. . . . You shall . . . 
give once a yeare an account both to our coimcell of trade and 
plantations, and Hkewise to our commissioners ... of those 
several things you are directed [to do]. . . ."® 

Acts of the Virginia Assembly after the Failure of Bacon's 
Rebellion (February, 1677). "Whereas Nathaniell Bacon the 
younger, in the month of June, 1676, . . . did enter James 
Citty in a rebellious manner with a considerable number of 
armed men, . . . environing and beseigeing the governour and 
councell and burgesses, . . . threatening them with sudden 
death if they would not grant his unreasonable, unlawfull, re- 
bellious and treasonable demands; Bee it . . . enacted . . . 
that all acts, orders and proceedings of the said grand assem- 
bly be repealed and made null and voyd." 

"For the better and more equall laying of parish levyes and 
dues. Bee it enacted . . . that the freeholders and house 
keepers in each respective parish . . . shall have liberty to 
choose six sober discreet housekeepers or freeholders to sitt 
with the vestry, and have their equal votes with the vestry 
men at the assessing the parish taxes. ..." 

"And for as much as diverse persons doe frequently . . . 
renew the breaches, quarrells and heart burning amongst us in 



6. W. W. Hening, Statutes of \'irginia, II, 424-426. 



80 AMERICAN HISTORY 

use by names . . . trators, rebell. rogue, ... or such like, 
. . . Bee it enacted . . . that whoever shall presume to use 
any such gravations or terms . . . shall . . . pay fower hun- 
dred pounds of tobacco. And whereas on the otherside diverse 
insolent persons . . . deeply concerned in the late rebellion, 
. . . presuming upon the gratious pardon granted by his ma- 
jesty, with unseemly, offencive language, urge and partake 
those who have been loyall, . . . Bee it therefore enacted . . . 
that whosoever shall . . . [use] such provokeing language to 
any loyall person . . . [shall] also . . . pay fower hundred 
pounds of tobacco. . . ." "^ 

2. ROYAL ATTACK ON NEW ENGLAND 
a. Overthrow of the Massachusetts Charter, 1660-1684: 

General Court of Massachusetts: An Address to King 
Charles the Second (Dec. 19, 1660). "Most gracious dread sov- 
eraigne : — May it please your majty, in the day wherein you 
happily say you now know that you are king, ... to cast a 
favorable eye upon your poore . . . New England, kneeling 
with the rest of your subjects before yor majty, as her restored 
king. . . . wee crave leave To supplicate yor majesty for yor 
gracious protection of us in the continuance both of our civil 
priviledges ... of our religion and liberties . . . [as] 
conferred upon this plantation by your royall father. . . . 
Touching complaints putt in against us, our humble request 
only is, that . . . yor majtje . . . permitt nothing to make 
an impression upon yo'r royall heart against us, untill wee have 
both opportunity and licence to answere for ourselves. . . ." * 

King Charles the Second: Instnictthns to Royal Commis- 
sioners to New England (April 23, 1664). Public Instructions 
— -''As soone as you shall arrive ... let them knowe . . . 
that wee are so farr from any thought of abridging or re- 
straining them from any priviledges or liberties granted by our 
Royall Father, . . . that wee are very ready to enlarge those 
concessns or to make any other alterations, wch upon their 



7. W. W. Hening, Statutes of Virginia, II, 380, 396, 408-409. 

8. N. B. Shurtleff, Records of Massachusetts Bay, JV, 450-451. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 81 

experience soe many yeares of that . . . countrey they finde 
necessary for the good and prosperity of the Colony. That 
ye principall end of yor journey is to remove all jealousies and 
misunderstandings wch might arise in Us of . . . [their] 
loyalty, ... or in them, of our good opinion and confidence 
in them. . . . 

Secret instructions — " [The] maine end and drift of yor 
employm't is to informe yourselves and us of the true and whole 
state of those severall Colonies and by insinuateing yourselves 
by all kind and dextrous carriage into the good opinion of ye 
principall persons there, that soe you may ... lead and dis- 
pose them to desire to renew their Charters and to make such 
alterations as will appeare necessary for their owne benefit : 
. . . Besides you will . . . observe . . . such other 
inconvenient ones [provisions of the charters], as for our 
dignity and authority should be altered. . . . You are . . . 
to peruse the collection of the lawes published in those Colo- 
nies during the late visurping Government . . . to . . . dis- 
cerne . . . important points . . . contrary to our dignity 
and to the lawes and customes of this realme . . . ; all of 
which they . . . [must] cancell and repeale. . . ." ^ 

Report of the King's Commissioners concerning Massachu- 
setts (1665). "The Colony of ye Massachusetts was the last 
and hardlyest persuaded to use His Ma'ties name in their forms 
of Justice. . . . The comissrs visited all other Colonies before 
this, hopeing . . . that ye submission ... of ye other Colo- 
nies . . . would have abated the refractoriness of this Colony. . . . 
But neither examples nor reason could prevaile with them, to 
let ye comissrs hear and determine so much as those particular 
causes [cases] ... ye king had commanded . . . ; they 
proclaimed . . . that ye Comissrs pretending to hear appeals 
was a breach of their priviledges, granted them by the Kings 
royall father. . . . [They] . . . elude His Ma'ties desire of 
their admitting men civill and of competent estates to be free- 
men. . . . They will not admit any who is not a member of 
their Church to ye Comunion, nor their children to baptisme. 
. . . They have put many Quakers to death. . . . They have 



9. J. R. Brodhead, Documents Relating to Colonial History of New York, 
III. 51, 57-58. 



82 AMERICAN HISTORY 

many things in their lavves derogatory to His Ma'ties honour. 
. . . They hope, by writing, to tire the King . . . ; seven 
yeares they can easily spin out by writing, and before that time 
a change may come. . . . Their way of government is Com- 
mon-wealth-Hke ; their way of worship is rude and called con- 
gregationall ; they are zealous in it, for they persecute all other 
formes." ^° 

Nathanael By field: The Loss of the Massachusetts Charter, 
1684 (From a pamphlet of 1689). "To crush and break a 
Countrey so entirely and signally made up of Reformed 
Churches [Protestants], and at length to involve it in the mis- 
eries of an utter Extirpation, ... it was no improper thing 
that we should first have our Charter Vacated, and the hedge 
which kept us from the wild Beasts of the field, effectually 
broken down. The accomplishment of this was hastened by the 
unwearied sollicitations, and slanderous accusations of a man 
[Edward Randolph], for his Malice and Falsehood, well known 
unto us all. Our Charter was with a most injurious pretence 
(and scarce that) of Law, condemned before it was possible 
for us to appear at Westminster in the legal defence of it ; 
and without a fair leave to answer for our selves, concerning 
The Crimes falsly laid to our charge, we were put under a 
President and Council, without any liberty for an Assembly." ^^ 

b. The "Dominion of New England" under Governor Andros, 
1686-1689: 

King James the Second: A Commission to Sir Edmund An- 
dros (First issued in 1686, renewed and enlarged in 1688). " Wee 
. . do . . . appoint you the said Sr. Edmond Andros to be our 
Captain Generall and Governor in Cheif in and over our Colo- 
nies of the Massachusetts Bay and New Plymouth, . . . New 
Hampshire and Main, . . . Road Island and Connecticut,^- . . . 
New York and East and West Jersey, . . . to be called . . . our 
. . . dominion of New England. . . . And Wee do . . . grant 
unto you full power, . . . with the advice and consent of our 



10. J. R. Biodhead, Documents Relating to Colonial History of New York, 
III, 110-113. 

11. Peter Force, Historical Collections, IV, No. 10, p. 7. 

12. New Haven had been merged with Connecticut in 1663. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 83 

Coimcill [chosen by Governor Andros], ... to make . . . 
lavves . . . for the . . . governm't of our said . . . domin- 
ion, ... to impose, assess and raise and levy such rates and 
taxes as you shall find necessary, . . . [and] to . . . es- 
tablish such . . . Courts of . . . Justice ... as you . . . shall 
think fitt. . . . And Wee do hereby require and command all 
officers and . . . inhabitants of our said . . . Dominion to 
be obedient, aiding and assisting unto you ... in the exe- 
cution of this our commission. . . ."^^ 

Nathanial By field: How Andros governed the Dominwn of 
New England (From his pamphlet, "An Account of the Late 
Revolutions in New England," London, 1689). "The Govern- 
ment was no sooner in these Hands but care was taken to load 
Preferments principally upon such Men as were strangers to, 
and haters of the People. . . . ; nor could a small Volume 
contain the Illegalities done by these Horse-Leeches in the 
two or three Years that they have been sucking of us; and 
what Laws they made it was as impossible for us to know, 
as dangerous for us to break. ... It was now plainly affirmed 
... by some in open Council, . . . that the people in New 
England were all Slaves. . . . Persons who did but peaceably 
object against the raising of Taxes without an Assembly, have 
been for it fined. . . . Without a . . . Jury . . . some 
. . . have been kept in long and close Imprisonment. . . . 
Because these things could not make us miserable fast enough, 
there was a notable Discovery made of . . . flaw in all our 
Titles to our Lands . . . [and] Writs of Intrusion began 
everywhere to be served on People . . . [to compel them] 
to take Patents for their Lands at excessive rates . . . ; and 
besides what Wrong hath been done in our Civil Concerns, 
. . . the Churches everywhere have seen our Sacred Con- 
cerns apace going after them. . . . And yet that our Calam- 
ity might not be terminated here we are again Briar'd in the 
Perplexities of another Indian War [King Philip's War] ; how, 
or why, is a mystery too deep for us to unfold. . . ." ^* 



13. J. R. Brodhead, Documents relating to Colonial History ol Nrw York, 
III, 537-539, 542. 

14. Peter Force, Historical Collections, IV, No. lU, pp. 7-10. 



84 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Sir Edmund Andros Report of his own Administration 
(May 27, 1690). "The several! Provinces and Collonys in 
New England being soe united ... all places were well and 
quietly setled and in good posture. The Church of England 
being unprovided of a place for theyr publique worship, he 
[Andros] did . . . borrow the new [Congregational] meeting 
house in Boston, at such times as the same was unused . . . ; 
but understanding it gave offence, hastened the building of a 
[an Episcopalian] Church . . . where the Chaplaine of the 
Souldiers p'rformed divine service & preaching. He was al- 
ways ready to give grants of vacant lands and confirme defect- 
ive titles. . . . Courts . . . were setled . . . soe as might 
be most convenient for the ease and benefitt of the subject. . . . 
[P] articular care was taken for the due observance of ye 
severall Acts made [by Parliament] for the encouragement 
of navigation and regulateing the plantation trade. . . . The 
Indians . . . continued in good order and subjection until! 
towards the latter end of the yeare 1688, by some unadvised 
proceedings of the Inhabitants in the Eastern parts of New 
England, the . . . rupture with the Indians there commenced. 



3. COLONIAL EXPANSION DURING THE RESTORATION 

PERIOD 

a. Conquest of Dutch New Netherland, 1664: 

King Charles the Second: A Grant to the Duke of York 
(March 12, 1664). "Know ye that we for divers good causes 
. . . Do Give and Grant unto our Dearest Brother James Duke 
of York ... all that Island . . . commonly called . . . 
Long Island . . . and all the Land from the West side of 
Connecticut [River] to the East side of Delaware Bay. . . ." ^^ 

King Charles the Second: Instructions to Royal Commis- 
sioners to the Colonies (April 23, 1664). "... your designe 
is the possessing Long Island, and reduceing that people [Dutch] 
to an entyre submission and obedience to us & our governe- 



15. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., Ill, 722-723. 

16. J. R. Brodhead, Documents Relating to Colonial History New York, 
II, 295-296. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 85 

ment, now vested by our grant and Commission in our Brother 
the Duke of Yorke, . . . that the Dutch may noe longer in- 
grosse and exercise that trade which they have wrongfully pos- 
sessed themselves of; that whole territory being in our pos- 
session before they . . . invaded and have since wrongfully 
obteyned the same, to the prejudice of our Crowne and Dignity, 
and therefore ought in justice to be resumed by us. . . ." ^' 

The Duke of York: A Sub-Grant of New Jersey to Berke- 
ley and Cartaret (June, 1664). ". . . his Royal Highness 
James Duke of York, for and in consideration of a competent 
sum of good and lawful money of England, . . . doth grant 
. . . unto . . . John Lord Berkeley and Sir George Cartaret 
... all that tract of land adjacent to New England . . . 
bounded on the east part by the maine sea, and part by Hud- 
son's river, and hath upon the west Delaware bay or river, 
. . . which . . . tract of land is hereafter to be called . . . 
New Ceaserea or New Jersey. . . ." ^* 

Sir Robert Carr: The Conquest of New Netherlands (From 
a letter to the chief Royal Commissioner, Oct. 13, 1664). 
" After a long and troublesom passage ... I held a parley 
with ye Dutch Burgurs and Governor ; the Buurgurs & townes- 
men after almost three dayes parley, consented to my demands ; 
but ye Governor and soldery refused. . . . Whereuppon I 
landed my soldiers ... & commanded ye shipps to fall 
downe before ye Fort . . . [and] fire two broade-sides apeace, 
then my soldiers to fall on. Which done, the soldiers neaver 
stoping untill they stormed ye fort. . . . The losse on our 
part was none ; the Dutch had tenn wounded and 3 killed. 

" 19 

Proprietors Berkeley and Cartaret: New Jersey Concession 
and Agreement (February, 1665). ". . . We do consent and 
agree, . . . That ... so soon as parishes . . . and other 
distinctions are made, that then the inhabitants or freeholders 
of the several . . . parishes . . . and distinctions aforesaid, 
do . . . annually . . . choose freeholders for each respective 



17. J. R. Brodhead, Documents Relating to Colonial History New York, 
III, 57. 

18. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 139-140. 

19. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc.. Ill, 73. 



86 AMERICAN HISTORY 

division, ... to be the deputies or representatives of the 
same : v^hich body of representatives . . . shall, with the Gov- 
ernor and council [appointed by the Proprietors], ... be the 
General Assembly of the said Province, . . . To enact and 
make all such laws ... as shall be necessary for the well 
government of the said Province. . . ." -° 

The Duke of York: No Assembly for Neiv York Colony 
(Extracts from instructions to Governor Andros, 1675-1676). 
". . . touching Generall Assemblyes well ye people there 
seeme desirous of in imitacion of their neighbour Colonies, I 
thinke you have done well to discourage any mocion of the 
kind. . . ." Jan. 28, 1676. 'T have formerly writt to you 
touching Assemblyes in those countreys and have since ob- 
served what severall of your lattest letters hint about that mat- 
ter. But ... I cannot but suspect they would be of dan- 
gerous consequence, nothing being more knowiie then the apt- 
ness of such bodyes to assume to themselves many priviledges 
wch prove destructive to, or very oft disturbe, the peace of ye 
governm't wherein they are allowed. Neither doe I see any 
use of them wch is not as well provided for, whilest you and 
your Councell governe according to ye laws established [by 
the Proprietor]. . . ." ^^ 

b. Royalist Founding of Carolina Colony, 1663-1680: 

King Charles the Second: A Grant of Carolina (1663). 
"Whereas our right trusty, and right well beloved Cousins and 
Counsellors, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, . . . and George, 
Duke of Albemarle, . . . our right trusty and well beloved 
William Lord Craven [and others], . . . being excited with a 
laudable and pious zeal for the Propagation of the Christian 
Faith, and the Enlargement of our Empire and Dominions, 
have humbly besought leave . . . to . . . make an ample 
colony of our subjects ... in the parts of America not yet 
cultivated or planted. . . . Know ye, therefore, that we . . . 
do Give, Grant and Confirm unto the said Edward Earl of 
Clarendon [and others] . . '. all that territory . . . from 



20. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters. 141-143. 

21. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., Ill, 230, 235. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 87 

. . . six and thirty degrees . . . [to] one and thirty degrees 
of Northern Latitude. . . . And . . . Hcense . . . to . . . 
found Churches . . . and to cause them to be dedicated . . . 
according to the Ecclesiastical laws of our Kingdom of Eng- 
land. . . . And . . . we . . . do . . . incorporate . . . 
the same into a Province, and call it the Province of Carolina 
. . . and ... do grant full and absolute power ... to them 
... to ordain . . . any laws whatsoever, . . . with the 
. . . assent ... of the Freemen of the said Province ... or 
of their Delegates, ... as to them shall seem best. . . . 
And because it may happen that some of the people . . . 
cannot . . . conform to the publick exercise of religion, ac- 
cording to the . . . Church of England, . . . we do . . . 
grant unto the said [Proprietors] . . . full and free license 
. . . to . . . grant vuito such . . . persons . . . such 
indulgences ... as they . . . shall . . . think fit and 
reasonable. . . ." -- 

A Description of the Province of Carolina (Extract from 
an anonymous pamphlet, London, 1666). "Carolina is a fair 
and spacious Province on the Continent of America. . . . 
There is seated in this Province two Colonies already, one on 
the River Roanoak . . . and borders on Virginia; the other 
at Cape Feare, two Degrees more Southerly. . . . [In the 
latter] are in all about 800 persons, who have overcome 
all the difficulties that attend the first attempts, and have 
cleered the way for those that come after, who will find 
good houses to be in whilst their own are in building; good 
forts to secure them from their enemies. . . . The chief 
of the Privileges [there] are as follows. First, There is 
full and free Liberty of Conscience granted to all . . . Sec- 
ondly, There is freedom from Custom, for all . . . that 
shall be raised in the Province for 7 years. . . . Thirdly, 
Every Free-man . . . shall have for Himself, Wife, Children, 
and Men-servants . . . each 100 Acres of Land, . . . and 
for every Woman-servant and Slave 50 Acres. . . . Sixthly. 
They are to choose annually from among themselves a certain 
Number of Men . . . which constitute the General Assembly 



22. W. L. Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, I, 20-33. 



88 AMERICAN HISTORY 

with the Governour and his Council, and have the sole power 
of Making Laws, and Laying Taxes. . . . Such as are here 
[in England] tormented . . . how ... to gain a Livelyhood, 
. . . shall do well to go to this place. ... If any Maid or 
single Woman ... go over, they will think themselves in 
the Golden Age . . . ; for if they be but Civil, and under 50 
years of Age, some honest Man or other, will purchase them 
for their Wives. . . ."-^ 

Proprietors of Carolina: Lord Culpepper's Rebellion (From 
a report to Lords of Trade, Nov. 20, 1680). "Mr Thomas 
Miller without any legall authority gott possession of the gov- 
'ernment of the County of Albemarle in Carolina in the yeare 
1677 and was for a tyme quyetly obeyed but doeing many il- 
legall and arbitrary things and drinking often to excess and 
putting the people in generall by his threats and actions in great 
dread of their lives and estates and they as we suppose getting 
some knowledge that he had no legall authority tumultuously 
and disorderly imprison him and suddainly . . . appoynt Mr 
Culpeper to receive the King's Customes . . . and did many 
other tumultuous and irregular things. . . . [On] information 
01 these disorders . . . we gott one Mr. Seth Sothel ... to 
undertake the Government . . . but Mr. Southell in his voyage 
thither was taken by the Turks and carryed into Argiers. As 
soone as we heard of Mr Southell's misfortune we sent a 
Commission to one Mr Harvey to be Gov'r untill Mr Southel's 
arrivall there . . . ; these Commissions as we are informed 
were quyetly and cheerfully obeyed by the people. . . . And 
to prevent the like disorders for the future which hath been 
in great measure occasioned by factions and animosityes in 
which most or all of the Inhabitants have been engaged We are 
sending Capt. Wilkinson thither ... to examine into the 
past disorders . . . and doe equall justice to all partyes. . . ."^* 

c. Quaker Beginnings in Newr Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
1676-1690: 

George Fox: Persecution of the Quakers under Charles the 
Second (1660-1662). "There being about seven hundred 



23. B. R. Carroll, Historical Collections of South Carolina, II, 10-11, 15-17. 

24. W. L. Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, I, 327-328. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 89 

Friends in prison, who had been committed under Oliver Crom- 
well and his son's Government, when the King came in [1660] 
he set them all at liberty. There seemed at that time an incli- 
tion and intention in the Government to grant Friends liberty. 
. . . But when everything was going forward in order there- 
unto, some that would seem to be for us, threw something in 
the way to stop it. . . . [On] a sudden that wicked attempt 
of the Fifth monarchy-people [a "second coming of Christ" 
movement] broke out, and put the city [London] and nation 
in an uproar. . . . Now the prisons everywhere were filled 
with Friends. . . . We heard of several thousands of our 
Friends that were cast into prison in several parts of the na- 
tion. . . ."25 

Quaker Desire to Locate in America (Josiah Cole to 
George Fox, November, 1660). "As concerning Friends buy- 
ing a piece of land of the Susquehanna Indians I have spoken 
of it to them & told them what thou said concerning it ; 
but their answer was, that there is no land that is habitable 
. . . till they come to or near the Susquehanna's Fort. . . ." -® 

Quaker Purchase of West Jersey (Letter of William Penn 
and others to those Proposing to Settle in West Jersey, Sep- 
tember. 1676). ". . . It truly laid hard upon us, to let friends 
know how the matter stands. . . . That there is such a prov- 
ince as New-Jersey. . . . That the Duke of York sold it to 
. . . Lord Berkeley . . . and sir George Carteret. . . . 
One . . . half part . . . being the right of the said lord 
Berkeley, was sold by him to John Fenwich [a Quaker], in 
trust for Edward Byllinge [another Quaker]. . . . Upon this 
we became trustees for [this part] of the said province. . . . 
And ... in whomsoever a desire is to be concerned in this 
intended plantation, such should weigh the thing before the 
Lord, and not headily or rashly conclude on any such remove 
. . . ; and so we commend you all to the Lord, who is the 
watchmen of his Israel. . . ." -" 

West Jersey in i68o (Letter of M. Stacy to W. Cook, June 



25. H. S. Newman, Autobiography of George Fox, 193-195. 

26. S. G. Fisher, Pennsylvania. Colony and Commonwealth, 2. 

27. W. M. Whitehead, Documents relating to the Colonial History of New 
Jersey (Archives of New Jersey, ser. I), I, 231-235. 



90 AMERICAN HISTORY 

26, 1680). "This is -a most brave place; whatever envy or evil 
spies may speak of it. I could wish you all here. . . . We 
have wanted nothing since we came hither, but the company 
of our good friends and acquaintance. ... I know not one 
among the people that desires to be in England again ; . . . 
I wonder at our Yorkshire people, that they had rather live 
in servitude, and work hard all the year, . . . than . . . 
transport themselves to a place where, with the like pains, in 
two or three years, they might know better things. . . ." -* 

William Penn: Situation of the English Quakers in 16/8 
(Speech before Parliament, March 22, 1678). "Nay. some 
zealouts for the Protestant religion have been gone so far . . . 
as ... to prosecute us for a sort of concealed Papists ; and 
the truth is. what with one thing and what with another, we 
have been as the wool-sacks and common whipping-stock of 
the kingdom : all laws have been let loose against us. . . ." -^ 

William Penn to Robet Turner (Apr. 5, 1681). ". . . after 
many waitings, watchings. solicitings. and disputes in council, 
this day my country was confirmed to me . . . with large 
powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania ; a name 
the King would give it in honour of my father. I chose New 
Wales, being, as this, a pretty, hilly country. ... I proposed, 
when the Secretary, a Welshman, refused to have it called New 
Wales, Sylvania. and they added Penn to it; and though I 
much opposed it. . . . the King . . . said it was past . . . ; 
nor could twenty guineas move the under secretary to vary the 
name, for I feared lest it should be looked on as a vanity in 
me, and not as a respect in the King ... to my father. . . . 
It is a clear and just thing, and my God that has given it me 
through many difficulties, will. I believe, bless and make it the 
seed of a nation. . . ." •'*" 

William Penn to the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania (April 8, 
1681). ". . . you shall be governed by laws of your own 
making, and live a free, and if you will, a sober and industrious 
people. I shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his per- 
son. God has furnished me with a better resolution, and has 



28. Samuel Smith, History of Colony of New Jersey, 113-114. 

29. S. M. Janney. Life of William Penn, 138. 

30. S, M. Janney, Life of William Penn, 165-166. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 91 

given me his grace to keep it. In short, whatever sober and 
free men can reasonably desire, for the security and improve- 
ment of their own happiness I shall heartily comply with, . . . 
and so I wish God to direct you in the way of righteousness, 
and therein prosper you and your children after you." ^^ 

William Penn to R. Turner and others (Apr. 12, 1681). 
"... I had an opening of joy as to these parts, in the year 
1661, at Oxford, twenty years since; and as my understanding 
and inclination have been much directed to observe and reprove 
mischiefs in government, so it is now put into my power to set- 
tle one [of these mischiefs]. For the matters of liberty and 
privilege, I propose that which is extraordinary, and to leave 
myself and successors no power of doing mischief, that the 
will of one man may not hinder the good of an whole coun- 
try."^'- 

William Pcnn to James Harrison (Aug. 25, 1681). ". . . 
For my country, I eyed the Lord in the obtaining of it. . . . 
I . . . desire that I may ... do that which may answer 
his kind providence, and serve his truth and people ; that an 
example may be set up to the nations ; there may be room 
there, though not here [England], for such an holy experi- 
ment." ^^ 

Pennsylvania in i6go (Letters of John Goodson to Friends 
in England. Aug. 20 and 24, 1690). "Dear Friend, I bless the 
Lord, matters relating to Truth and the Government are well 
amongst us, and we are in great Love and Unity peace and 
Quietness in this Province. . . . And as to this Country, It 
is in a prosperous Condition beyond what many of our Friends 
can imagin : ... it is becoming a fruitful Field and pleas- 
ant Garden . . . prosperous . . . beyond whatever our Hearts 
could have thought of. . . . My Friends, here is great plenty 
of Provision. . . . \\'e now begin to have a Trade abroad as 
well as at home . . . [and] many Trades-Men. . . . And 
five miles oft' [from Philadelphia], is a Town of Dutch and 
German People that have set up the Linnen Manufactory. . . . 
So . . . Dear Friends, . . . my Soul is overcome . . . 



31. Memoirs Historical Society of Pennsylvania, vol. Ill, part 2, pp. 205-206. 

32. S. M. Janney, Life of William Penn, 172. 

33. S M. Janney, Life of William Penn, 175. 



92 AMERICAN HISTORY 

with the Lords abounding Mercies . . . since we came into 
this Land. . . . My Friends, here are about twenty one Meet- 
ing-Places estabHshed in Pennsylvania, and six Meetings fixed 
round this City, all within six Miles. . . ." ^* 

4. EFFECTS OF THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION OF 1688 
a. New England's Overthrow of Andros and his "Dominion": 

Governor Andros: The Revolution in N'ew England (From 
his report to the Lords of Trade, 1690). "On the 18th of 
April], 1689, severall of His Ma'ties Councill in New England 
haveing combined and conspired together with those who were 
. . . officers in the late Charter Government ... to sub- 
vert and overthrow the [Royal] government, and in stead 
thereof to introduce their former Commonwealth; and have- 
ing by their false reports and aspersions gott to their assistance 
the greatest part of the people, . . . appeared in arms at 
Boston, . . . made him [the Governor] a prisoner . . . for 
the space of ten months under severe and close confinement, 
. . . [and] took upon them [selves] the Government. . . . 
By the encouragemen't and p'rswasion of those of Massachusetts 
the severall other provinces and collonys in New England as 
far as New Yorke have disunited themselves, and set up their 
former separate Charter, or popular governments without 
Charter. . . . Since this insurrection and alteracion in New 
England they doe tollerate an unlimited irregular trade, con- 
trary to the severall acts [of Parliament] . . . esteeming noe 
laws to be binding on them but what are made by themselves, 
nor admitt English laws to be pleaded there, or appeales to Her 
Ma'tie. . . ."^^ 

Episcopalian Ministers of Boston: An Address to King Wil- 
liam (1689). "There has been but few years past over our heads, 
since . . . wee were delivered from the slavery and thraldome 
of a most extravagant and arbitrary government, . . . [and 
permitted] to enjoy the freedome of divine service and wor- 
ship, after the manner of the Church of England. . . . We 



34. Pennsylvania Magazine of History, IV, 191, 194-195. 

35. J. R. Brodhead. Documents relating to Colonial History of New York, 
III, 723-725. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 93 

have lately, to our great horrour and amazement, been forced 
to behold a well established and orderly government here sub- 
verted and overthrown ... by a party of pretended zealous 
and godly men. moved upon no other grovmds or reasons, but 
their owne ill principles, malice and envy, being more fond and 
regardful of their former Charter-government (famous for 
nothing but their . . . cruel prosecutions of all persons dif- 
fering from them in matters of Religion only), than of their duty 
and allegiance to your Majesty. . . . [Those] who now hum- 
bly address your Majesty . . . have bin thereby injured and 
abused both in their civil and religious concernments; our 
Church by their rage and fury having been greatly hurt and 
damnified, and daily threatened to be pulled downe and des- 
troyed . . . and wee now put under the burthen of most 
excessive . . . taxes to support the interest of a disloyal pre- 
vailing party amongst us, who, under pretence of the publique 
good, designe nothing but ruin and destruction to us and the 
whole country. . . . we humbly beseech your majesty, that 
we may not be left under the anarchy and confusion of [this] 
government. . . ." ^^ 

The Revolution in Nezv England Justified (A Pamphlet by 
some of those who helped to overthrow Governor Andros. pub- 
lished at Boston in 1691). "The doctrine of passive obedience 
and non-resistance [to kings and governors], which a sort of 
men did of late, when they thought the world would never 
change, cry up as divine truth, is by means of the happy revo- 
lution in these nations, exploded. . . . No man does really 
approve of the revolution [of 16SS] in England, but nnist jus- 
tify that in New-England also ; for the latter was effected in 
compliance with the former. . . . They considered that the 
men then usurping government in New-England were king 
James's creatures, who had invaded both the liberty and prop- 
erty of English protestants after such a manner as the like 
was never known in any part of the world where the English 
nation has any government. . . . Their seizing and securing 
the governor, was no more than was done in England. . . . 
It is hard to believe that Captaine Palmer [author of a pam- 



36. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, ser. 3, vol. VII, 192-194. 



94 AMERICAN HISTORY 

phlet criticizing the New England revolution of 1689] does 
not rebel against the light of his own conscience when he af- 
firms . . . that in New-England, everything that hath any 
relation to their majesties is neglected and unregarded, without 
any recognition of their authority over those dominions. He 
cannot be ignorant of the humble addresses which the people in 
New-England have from time to time made to their present 
majesties, acknowledging their authority. He knows that on 
the first notice of their majesties being proclaimed king and 
queen in England, both those now in government in New 
England, and the body of the people with them, did (without 
any command) of their own accord, with the greatest joy pro- 
claim their majesties in New-England. . . ." ^^ 

King William: A New Charier for Massachusetts (October, 
1691). ". . . Wee doe . . . Ordeyne that the . . . Col- 
lonyes ... of Massachusetts Bay . . . New Plymouth . . . 
Main[e] . . . [and] Accadia . . . be . . . Incorporated 
. . . into one reall Province by the name of Our Province of 
the Massachusetts Bay in New England. . . . And . . . there 
shall be one Go^ernour One . . . Deputy Governour and One 
Secretary of our said Province . . . appointed ... by us. 
. . . and . . . there shall . . . be . . . every yeare . . . 
a great and Generall Court of Assembly . . . [to] consist of 
the Governour and Councill of Assistants . . . and of such 
Freeholders ... as shall be . . . elected or deputed by the 
Major parte of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the 
respective Townes Each to Elect and Depute two Persons and 
noe more. . . . And . . . the aforesaid . . . Councillors or 
Assistants shall be by the Generall Court . . . newly chosen 
[each year]. . . . Wee doe . . . Ordaine that for ever here- 
after there shall be a liberty of Conscience ... to all Chris- 
tians (except Papists) . . . within our said Province. . . . 
[Any one] may appeale [from the Colonial courts] to us. . . . 
[Upon] all . . . acts of Government ... by the said Gen- 
erall Court . . . the Governor . . . shall have the Negative 
voice. . . . Laws, Statutes and Ordinances [must] be . . . 



37. Peter Force, Historical Collections, IV, No. 9, pp. 7-8, 48. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 95 

Transmitted unto us . . . for Our approbation or Disallow- 
ance. . . ." '* 

b. Leisler's Rebellion in New York: 

A Memoriall of what has occurred in Nezv York since the 
news of their Majesties' happy arrival in England (An anony- 
mous pamphlet of 1689). ". . . Capt. [Acting Governor] 
Nicholson . . . wholly neglected to repair the Fort, . . . 
thereby [it was suspected] the more easily to betray the same 
into the enemies [French] hands, . . . [and] he gave the 
.... Province . . . grounds of apprehensions by discover- 
ing both by words and actions, his disaffection to the happy 
Revolution in England, and also to the inhabitants of the City 
by threatening to fire the same about their ears. Whereupon 
the Inhabitants in order to secure the . . . Fort and City for 
their ma't.s [Majesties'] use . . . [and] to place the govern- 
ment of the Province in the hands of some of undoubted loy- 
alty and affection to their present Ma'ts [Majesties]. Did re- 
move the said Capt : Nicholson, and made choice of Capt : 
Jacob Leisler with a Committee (who were also chosen by the 
people) to take into their hands the Care and Charge of the 
Governm't untill Their Mat's [Majesties'] Pleasure should be 
further known. Shortly after arrived their Ma'ts Proclamation 
to Proclaim them King and Queen of England. . . . The 
said Capt Leisler accompanyed with the Committee & most 
part of the Inhabitants, did with all the Demonstrations of Joy 
and affection they were capable of celebrate the same. . . . 
Upon these our actings for the Securing of their Ma'ts Interest 
in this Province and conserving the publick Peace our enemys 
have endeavoured all they can to misrepresent us and load us 
with Reproach, by terming our aforesaid proceedings a Dutch 
Plott . . . and they also threaten our mine, if ever the Gov- 
ernment come into their hands again. Which that it may not 
doe . . . [we are] humbly submitting ourselves to your Ma'ts 
[Majesties'] most Royall Will and Pleasure. . . ." ^^ 



38. Quoted in Wni. Macdonald, Select Charters, 205-212. 

39. E. B. O'Callaghan, Documentary History of New York, II, 55-58. 



96 AMERICAN HISTORY 

A Gentleman of the City of New York: The Late Disorders 
Committed by Capt. Jacob Leysler (From a Letter published in 
1698). " It was about the beginning of April, 1689. when the 
first Reports arrived at New-York, that . . . his present 
Majesty, was arrived in England, and that the late King James 
was fled into France, and that it was expected War would be 
soon proclaimed between England and France. The Lieut. 
Governor, Francis Nicholson, and the Council being Protestants, 
resolved thereupon to suspend all Roman Catholicks from . . . 
Places of Trust in the Government, . . . And because but 
three Members of the Council were residing in New- York, . . . 
It was Resolved by the said Lieut. Governor and Council, to 
call ... to their Assistance all the . . . civil Magistrates, 
and the Commission [ed] Officers in the Province, for to con- 
sult and advise with them . . . till Orders should arise from 
England. Whereupon the said . . . Officers were . . . con- 
vened, and stiled . . . The General Convention. . . . And 
it was by them agreed . . . Forth-with to fortifie the City of 
New- York. . . . But against Expectation . . . Capt Leysler 
having a Vessel with some Wines . . . for which he refused 
to pay the Duty, did in a Seditious manner stir up the meanest 
sort of the Inhabitants (affirming That King James being fled 
the kingdom, all manner of Government was fallen in this 
Province) to rise in Arms, and forcibly possess themselves of 
the Fort. . . . Whereupon, by Capt. Leisler's perswasion. 
they proclaimed him to be their Commander. . . . [He then] 
took some Persons to his Assistance, which he call'd. The 
Committee of Safety. . . . [F]inding almost every man of 
Sence, Reputation or Estate in the place to oppose and dis- 
courage his irregularities, [he] caused frequent false Alarms 
to be made, and . . . drag'd into nasty Gaols [jails] . . . 
severall of the principall . . . Officers and Gentlemen . . . 
And . . . publish't . . . That all those who would not . . . 
own his Power to be lawful, should be deemed . . . Enemies to 
his Majesty and the Country, and . . . treated accordingly. 
By which means many of the Inhabitants, tho' they abhor'd his 
Actions, only to escape a nasty Gaol, and to secure their Es- 
tates, were by fear . . . drove to . . . submit. ... In this 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 97 

Calamity, Misery and Confusion was this Province . . . en- 
thrawled near the space of two years. . . ."' *" 

King WilliaDi: Appointinent of a New Royal Governor of 
Nezu York (Jan. 31, 1689). "Instructions for . . . Henry 
Sloughter. . . . With these our Instructions you will receive 
our Commission . . . constituting you our . . . Governor 
in Chief of our Province of New York. . . . You are there- 
fore to fit yourself with all convenient speed and to repair to 
our Province of New York. . . ." ^^ 

Governor Sloughter : The Capture and Execution of Cap- 
tain Leisler (July, 1691). "'On my arrival here ... I found 
the Country all in arms Jacob Leisler with near four hundred 
men in the Fort firing upon the Town where he killed and 
wounded several. ... I sent Major Ingoldsby to demand the 
surrender of the fort which was flatly denied. . . . [Leisler] 
then . . . sent two of his pincipal Councillors ... to capitu- 
late with me which I could not admit . . . resolving to attack 
the fort by sea and land . . . they then did admit Major In- 
goldsby to enter alone who by my Order required them to 
ground their arms and march out of the fort and they should all 
be pardoned except Leisler and his Council who they readily 
forsook. . . . [Leisler and his Council] being taken in actual 
rebellion, I . . . committed them to prison. ... By the 
advice of the Judges I was inclined to reprieve them until his 
Majesty's pleasure should be known, but the people were so 
much disturbed thereat and the Council and Assembly did rep- 
resent the great damage it would be to the King's Service and 
discouragement to future loyalty if the law was not executed 
upon the principal Actors which I was constrained to do and 
on the 17th of May Leisler and Milbourne were accordingly 
executed. . . ." *- 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What state of mind in the Virginia Assembly shown 
by the recall of Berkeley in 1660? (2) How did the action of 
the Assembly in 1662 restrict the people's control of the parish 

40. A. B. Hart, .\merican History told by Contemporaries, I, 544-546. 

41. J. R. Brodhead, Documents relating to Colonial History of New York, 
III, 685. 

42. J. R. Brodhead. Documents N. Y., etc.. Ill, 789. 



98 AMERICAN HISTORY 

vestry? (3) How did the Assembly act of 1669 limit colonial 
suffrage? (4) What was the immediate cause of Bacon's re- 
bellion? (5) What other cause is suggested or hinted at? (6) 
What do the acts of the Assembly under Bacon's control show 
to have been the main purposes of the rebellion? (7) What did 
the Assembly do with Bacon's reforms as soon as his rebellion 
failed? (8) What reasons do you find for the king's attack 
on the Massachusetts charter? (9) What do you feel to have 
been the real cause of the attack? (10) How did the king's 
instructions to Governor Andros limit self-government in New 
England? (11) What colonies included within the "Dominion 
of New England"? (12) What did New England object to in 
Andros' methods of government? (13) How did the king jus- 
tify English seizure of New Netherland? (14) Was New York 
a royal, charter, or proprietary colony after the English con- 
quest? (15) To whom did it belong after the conquest? (16) 
To whom did New Jersey and Delaware belong in 1665? (17) 
How did the difference in ownership of New York and New 
Jersey cause trouble in New York? (18) What reasons for 
the founding of Carolina? (19) What conditions in Carolina 
caused dissatisfaction ? (20) In what colony did Quakers first 
get a foothold? (21) What were Penn's motives in founding 
Pennsylvania? (22) What advantages did colonists find in 
Pennsylvania? (23) What effect did the English Revolution 
of 1688 have upon New England? (24) Did New England 
gain or lose by its revolt agamst Andros? (25) What do you 
regard as the real motive for Leisler's rebellion in New York? 
(26) What was its outcome? 

II. (1) Compare or contrast the beginnings of Carolina and 
Pennsylvania. (2) Compare the work of Bacon and Andros. 

(3) Give an estimate of William Penn from the quotations 
given from his letters. (4) Outline or write a summary of 
Virginia history from 1606 to 1676. (5) Same of New Eng- 
land history from 1620 to 1692. 

III. (1) Did King and Parliament disagree over political 
as well as religious policies during 1660-1688? (2) What was 
the colonial policy (laws and actions) of England during the 
Restoration period? (3) Were there any Quakers in America 
before the Quaker migrations to New Jersey and Pennsylvania? 

(4) In what other colonies outside of New England and New 
York were there revolutions from 1688 to 1692, and with what 
result in each? (5) What were some of the beneficial results 
of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia? of Leisler's Rebellion in 
New York? (6) Why is the New England movement against 
Andros called a "revolution," and the Bacon and Leisler move- 
ments called "rebellions" ? 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 99 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent, 40-42, 48-59; Ash- 
ley, 63-65, 67-84; Channing (revision 1908), 90-109; Hart, 77- 
89; James & Sanford, 73-82, 84-91; Macdonald's Johnston, 27, 
35," 34-40, 44-46, 54, 57-62, 67-69, 72-76; McLaughhn, 61-65, 
94-96, 102-115; McMaster, 52-57, 72; Montgomery (revision 
1905), 43-46, 54-58, 63-66, 87-91, 105-106; Thomas (revision 
1903), 40-57, 65, 70-75, 77. 



SECTION VI 
COLONIAL INSTITUTIONS AND LIFE ABOUT 1700 

With the years 1689 to about 1700, we may profitably 
stop 'Jor a study of Colonial life. The rehgious-political 
struggle of 1604 to 1688 had dominated all colonial history 
during that period of years ; but it had not prevented the 
Colonies from carrying on a more or less silent but never- 
theless steady development of institutions and characteristics 
adapted to their location in an isolated New World. 

Some of these institutions and characteristics attained 
by about 1700 were common to all colonies and sections. 
The semi-independent attitude towards the Mother Coun- 
try ; the general form of Colonial government ; dress, man- 
ners, furnishings, means of transportation, communication 
and exchange — all these were tolerably uniform throughout 
the whole colonial area. 

Yet just as clearly stood out already certain charac- 
teristics marking colonial division into Southern, North- 
ern, and Middle groups, each with its own peculiar ideals 
and institutions. The Southern group, with Virginia, the 
oldest of the colonies, as its most important member, was 
almost wholly Royalist, Episcopalian, and agricultural, with 
tobacco its chief staple and slavery becoming its chief 
labor-system. The Northern group was more democratic 
in government, more diversified in industry, Congregational 
in creed, more dependent on free labor and indented white 
servants; but narrower in its humanity and hospitality than 



100 AMERICAN HISTORY 

was the South. The Middle group, aUhough just entering 
upon its EngHsh colonial histor)-, was beginning to attain al- 
ready that mixture of peoples, institutions, and character- 
istics so notable to-day. 

Material and space have not permitted as thorough a 
presentation of the detailed life of the times as is desirable ; 
but an endeavor has been made to bring out at least the 
chief of those earlier or pioneer features that more or less 
disappear by that period (the close of the Revolutionary 
epoch) when the next survey of American life is at- 
tempted. 

1. GOVERNMENT 
a. Relations with the Mother Country: 

As Defined in Colonial Charters. (1) General restriction 
(found, with varying wording, in all of the colonial charters). 
— "We ... do grant [to the Colonial Assembly] . . . Power 
... to ... . Make and Enact LAWS, of what kind soever 
. . . ; So Nevertheless, that the Laws aforesaid be consonant 
to Reason and be not repugnant or contrary, but (so far as 
conveniently may be) agreeable to the Laws, Statutes, Customs 
and Rights of this Our Kingdom of England." ^ 

Special restriction (before 1700, found only in Pennsylvania 
charter of 1681 and second Massachusetts charter of 1691). 
"... Wee judge it necessary that all our Subjects [within these 
colonies] should have liberty to Appeale to us . . .in Cases 
that may deserve the same. . . . And we doe . . . Ordaine 
that . . . Laws Statutes and Ordinances [of these colonies] 
be . . . sent or Transmitted unto us . . . for Our . . . 
approbation or Disallowance. ..." - 

The "Fundamental Law" of the Colonies (An extract from 
an anonymous "Account of Virginia" of about 1700). "It is 
none of the least misfortunes of that country, that it is not 



1. Quotation from Maryland charter, 1632 (Wm. Macdonald, Select Char- 
ters, 57). 

2. Quotation from Massachusetts charter of 1691 (Wm. Macdonald, Select 
Charters, 210-211). 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 101 

clear what is the law whereby they are governed. They all 
agree in this, that the two fountains of their law are the laws 
of England, and the acts of their own general assemblies; but 
how far both, or either of these is to take place, is in the 
judges' breast, and is applied according to their particular affec- 
tion to the party; sometimes it is said, that of the law of Eng- 
land, they are only to regard that part which was in being at 
the first seating of Virginia, and none of the latter laws, ex- 
cept where the English plantations in general, or Virginia in 
particular, are mentioned. At other times, they pretend to ob- 
serve all the laws of England; sometimes, if there is a differ- 
ence between the law of Virginia and the law of England, the 
Virginia law shall take place, as being suited to their particular 
circumstances. At other times, the . . . English laws, because 
the legislative power was given them with this proviso, that 
they should enact nothing derogatory to the laws of England 
or the king's prerogative." ^ 

Parliamentary Legislation for the Colonics (1660-1698). 

First Navigation Act, 1660 (Revision of Commonwealth Act 
of 1652). — "For the increase of Shiping and incouragement of 
the Navigation of this Nation, . . . Bee it Enacted . . . That 
noe Goods . . . shall be Imported into or Exported out of any 
. . . Plantations or Territories to his Majesty belonging . . . 
but in such Ships ... as doe truely and without fraude be- 
long onely to the people of England ... or ... of the 
. . . Plantations or Territories . . . and whereof the Master 
and three fourthes of the Mariners at least are English. . . . 
And . . . noe Goods ... or forraigne growth production or 
manufacture . . . brought into England . . . shall be . . . 
brought from any other place. . . . but . . . those of their 
said Growth Production or Manufacture. . . . And . . . noe 
Sugars Tobaccho Cotton Wool Indicos Ginger Fustick or 
other dyeing wood of the Growth Production or Manufacture 
of any English Plantations in America Asia or Africa shall be 
shipped ... to any . . . place whatsoever other then [than] to 
. . . English Plantations ... or the Kingdome of England 
[etc.]. . . ."* 



3. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1st series, V, 146-147. 

4. Win. Macdonald, Select Charters. 110-115. 



102 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Second Navigation Act (1663. — ". . . For . . . makeing 
this Kingdome a Staple [market] not onely of the Commodities 
of those Plantations but alsoe of the Commodities of other 
Countryes and Places for the supplying of them, and it being 
the usage of other Nations to keepe their Plantations Trade 
to themselves, Be it enacted . . . That ... no Commoditie 
of the Grow^th Production or Manufacture of Europe shall be 
imported into any . . . Colony ... to His Majestie belonging 
. . . but what shall be . . . shipped in [to] England . . . 
and . . . directly thence to the said . . . Colonyes . . . [except] 
to ship . . . Salt . . . Madera's Wines . . . Azores Wines 
. . . Servants or Horses in Scotland or Ireland . . . Victual! 
. . . of Scotland . . . and . . . Ireland, and the same to 
transport into any of the said . . . Lolonyes, . . . Any thnig 
in the foregoing Clause in the contrary in any wise notwith- 
standing." ^ 

Third Navigation Act (1672). — ". . . bee it enacted . . . 
That ... If any Shipp . . . which In' Law may trade in any 
of your Majesties Plantations shall come to any of them to 
shipp . . . any of the aforesaid Commodities [enumerated in 
act of 1660], and that Bond shall not first be given ... to 
bring the same to England . . . and to noe other place, and 
there to unload and putt the same on shoare . . . there shall 
be . . . paid . . . for . . . the said Commodities . . . 
laded . . . on . . . such Shipp . . . these following Rates 
and Dutyes, . . . For Tobacco the pound one penny . . . 
[etc.]. And for the better collection of the . . . Rates and Dutyes 
imposed by this Act . . . this whole business shall be . . . 
mannaged ... by the Commissioners of the Customes in 
England. . . ."® 

English Organ of Colonial Adviinist ration (1660-1695). 

King Charles the Second: Establishment of a Council for 
Foreign Plantations (1660). — "Wee have judged it meete and 
necessary that soe many remote Colonies and Governments, 
soe many wayes considerable to our crowne and dignitie and 
to w'ch wee doe beare soe good and esteeme and affection, 
should now no longer remaine in a loose and scattered [condi- 



5. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 133-136. 

6. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 169- 170. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 103 

tion] but should be collected and brought under such an uni- 
forme inspeccion and conduct that Wee may the better apply 
our royall councells to their future regulacion securitie and 
improvem't. . . . Wee therefore . . . doe by this our Com'is- 
sion . . . constitute ... a Standing Councill . . . [with] 
power and authoritie to take into yo'r consideracion care and 
conduct the present and future state and condicion of our 
severall Forraigne Plantacions. . . ."' 

The King's Instructions to the Council for Foreign Plan- 
tations (1600). — " 1 You shall informe yourselves ... of 
the state, and condicion of all Forraigne Plantacions, and by 
what com'issions or authorities they are and have been gov- 
erned. ... 4. You are to order and settle such a continuall 
correspondencie that you may be able, as often as you are 
required thereunto, to give up unto us an accompt of the Gov- 
ernm't of each Colonie ; of their complaints, their wants, their 
abundance ; of their severall growths and co'odities of every 
shipp tradeing there [etc.]. ... 5. You are to applie your- 
selves to all prudentiall meanes for the rendering those domin- 
ions usefuU to England, and England helpfull to them, and for 
bringing the severall Colonies . . . into a more certain civill 
and uni forme governm't. ... 7 You are to take especiall 
care . . . [for] the strict execucion of the late Act of . . . 
Navigacion. ... 10. You are most especially to take an effec- 
tuall care of the propogacion of the Gospell. . . . 11. . . . 
And in all cases wherein you shall judge that further powers 
and assistants shall be necessary, you are to address your selves 
to us . . . [in] our Privy Council for our further pleasure 
resolucion and direccions. . . ."* 

b. The Three Types of Colonial Government: 

Virginia as an Example of the Royal Colony (From Robert 
Beverley's description of Virginia in 1706). "... When 
the [Virginia] company was dissolved [in 1625], the king 
continued the same method of government, by a gov- 
ernor, council and burgesses ; which three being united were 



7. J. R. Brodhead, Documents New York Colonial History, III, 33. 

8. J. R. Brodhead, Documents New York Colonial History, III, 34-36. 



104 AMERICAN HISTORY 

called the general assembly. . . . Before the year 1680, the 
council sat in the same house with the burgesses . . . [but] 
L,ord Colepepper, taking advantage of some disputes among 
them, procured the council to sit apart from the assembly ; and 
so they became two distinct houses. . . . The governor is ap- 
pointed by the crown ; his commission . . . runs during [the 
king's] pleasure. . . . His assent is necessary to the laws, 
agreed upon by the council and assembly ; without it, no law 
can be made. . . . He appoints commissioners of county courts. 
. . . He grants commissions to all officers of the militia, . . . 
orders and disposes the militia . . . disposes of the unpatented 
land. . . . And . . . is . . . vice-admiral. The gentlemen 
of the council are appointed by letter or instruction from his 
majesty. . . . The business of the council, is to advise and 
assist the governor, ... In the general assembly, the council 
make the upper house, and claim an entire negative voice to 
all laws, as the house of lords in England. . . . The bur- 
gesses of assembly are elected, and returned from all parts of 
the country, viz : from each county, two ; and from James City, 
one ; and from the college, one ; which make up in all sixty 
burgesses. . . . The freeholders are the only electors.- . . . 
The laws having duly passed the house of burgesses, the coun- 
cil, and the governor's assent, they are transmitted to the king 
. . . for his approbation, his majesty having another negative 
voice. But they immediately become laws, and are in force 
. . . and so remain if his majesty don't actually repeal them. 
Besides the governor and council aforementioned, there are 
three other general officers in that colony bearing his majesty's 
immediate commission, viz : the auditor of the revenue, the 
receiver general of it, and the secretary of state. . . . There 
are two other general officers ... 1. The ecclesiastical com- 
missary, . . . authorized by . . . the lord bishop of London. 
... 2. The country's treasurer . . . authorized by the gen- 
eral assembly. . . . The other public commission officers . . . 
except those of the militia . . . are escheators, naval officers, 
collectors, clerks of courts, sheriffs of counties, surveyors of 
lands, and coroners. . . . They have two sorts of courts . . . : 
the general court, and the county courts. The general court is 
a court held by the governor and council. . . . From this court 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 105 

there is no appeal, except ... to the king and council, in 
England, and there determined by a committee of the privy 
council, called the lords of appeal ; the like custom being used 
for all the other plantations. . . . The people are generally of 
the church of England, which is the religion established by law 
in that country, from which there are very few dissenters. Yet 
liberty of conscience is given to all other congregations pre- 
tending to Christianity. . . ."'-' 

The Nezv England Charter or Self-Governing Colonies 
(From a report of the Lords of Trade, made to the King in 
1734). "There are . . . Three Charter Governments, the chief 
of which is . . . Massachusetts . . . the Constitution whereof 
is of a mixed Nature, the Power being divided between the 
King and the People, in which the latter have much the greater 
share. . . . Connecticut and Rhode Island are the other Char- 
ter Governments, or rather Corporations where almost the 
whole Power of the Crown is delegated to the People, who 
make an annual Election of their Assembly, their Council, and 
their Governor likewise; to the Majority of which . . . the 
Power of making Law is granted. . . . And. as the said Gov- 
ernors are annually chosen their office generally expires before 
his Majesty's Approbation can be obtained . . . and [they] 
hold little or no Correspondence with our Office. It is not 
surprising that Governors, constituted like those . . .should 
be guilty of many Irregularities, in point of Trade, as well as 
in other respects. All these Colonies, ... by their several 
Constitutions [charters], have the power of making Laws. 
. . . Connecticut, and Rhode Island not being under any 
Obligation by their respective Constitutions, to return . . . 
copies of their Laws to the Crown for Approbation or Dis- 
allowance or to give any account of their Proceedings ; we are 
very little informed of what is done in any of their Govern- 
ments. There is also this singularity . . . that their Laws are 
not repealable by the Crown : but the validity of them depends 
upon their not being contrary ... to the Laws of Eng- 
land. . . ."1° 



9. Robert Beverley. History of Nirginia (Campbell ed. of 1855), parts of 
187-210. 

JO. Collections ConijerJ.icut Historical Society, V, 446-447. 



106 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Pennsylvania as a Proprietary Colony (From a report of the 
Lords of Trade to the King in 1721). "This Province being 
a proprietary government, . . . the proprietor thereof has the 
appointment of a Governor, who, nevertheless [after 1705] 
must be first approved by your Majesty, he like wise nominates 
the Council, and the Assembly are elected by the freeholders. 
There is one circumstance very particular in this Charter, viz't, 
that the proprietor hath five years allowed him to transmit his 
Laws for the Royal approbation ; but the Crown hath but six 
months for the repealing them ; within which time if they are 
not repealed, they are to be reputed laws, . . . from whence 
it frequently happens, that several Laws, unfit for the Royal 
Assent, continue in force for five years, & after having been 
disallowed by the Crown, are enacted again, & by this practice 
become in a manner perpetual. . . ." ^^ 

c. The Two Types of Local Government: 

The New England Town or Township (An Act of the 
Massachusetts Assembly, 1693). — ". . . whereas, it has been 
a continued practice and custome . . . — Be it . . . enacted 
. . . That the freeholders and other inhabitants of each town, 
ratable at twenty pounds estate. . . . shall . . . annually 
meet and convene together, . . . and by the major vote of 
such assembly, then and there shall choose three, five, seven 
or nine persons . . . to be selectmen, ... as also to nomi- 
nate and choose a town clerk, ... a commissioner for assess- 
ments, constables, surveyors of highways, tythingmen, fence- 
viewers, clerks of the market, sealers of leather and other 
ordinary town officers. . . . That the freeholders and inhabi- 
tants ... in any town meeting, ... or the selectmen having 
instructions given them in writing by the town for that pur- 
pose, . . . make and agree upon such necessary rules, orders 
and by-laws for the directing, managing and ordering the 
prudential affairs of such town, as they shall judge most con- 
ducing to the peace, welfare and good order thereof. . . ."^^ 
The Southern County and Parish (From Robert Beverley's 



11. J. R. Brodhead, Documents New York Colonial History, V, 604. 

12. Acts and Resolves of Province of Massachusetts Bay, I, 65-66. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 107 

description of Virginia in 1706). — "The country is divided into 
twenty-nine counties, and the counties . . . into fewer or 
more parishes. . . . The clerks of [county] courts receive their 
commissions from the [royal] secretary of State ; the sheriffs 
theirs from the governor, and the surveyors of lands theirs from 
the governors of the college. . . . There are other ministerial 
[administrative] officers that have no [royal] commission ; 
which are, surveyors of the highways, constables and he'ad- 
boroughs. These are appointed . . . annually by the county 
courts. . . . The county courts [consist of] . . . justices 
. . . appointed by . . . the governor. . . . They consist of 
eight or more gentlemen of the county, called justices of the 
peace, the sheriff being only a ministerial [administrative] offi- 
cer to execute its processes. This court is held monthly, and 
has jurisdiction of all causes [cases] within the county, . . . 
[and] hath the care of all orphans, and of their estates. . . . 
For . . . parochial affairs, a vestry is appointed in each parish. 
These vestries consist of twelve gentlemen of the parish, and 
were first chosen by the vote of the parishioners ; but upon the 
death of any, have been continued by the survivors electing 
another to take his place. These, in the name of the parish, 
make presentation of ministers, and have the sole power of 
all parish assessments. They . . . choose two from among 
themselves to be church-wardens . . . [whose] business . . . 
is to see the orders and agreements of the vestry performed ; to 
collect all the parish tobacco ... ; to make up the accounts 
of the parish, and to present all profaneness and immorality to 
the county courts, and there prosecute it. . . . The power of 
induction, upon presentation of ministers, is also in the gov- 
ernor. . . ." ^^ 

2. LIFE AND MANNERS 

a. The Southern Colonies: 

Some Virginia Lazvs of i6gi to i6pg (Typical of all South- 
ern Colonies of this period). 

Swearing, Drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, etc. (1691). — 



13. Robert Beverley, History of Virginia (Richmond edition of 1855), parts 
of 192-212. 



108 AMERICAN HISTORY 

''That no person . . . shall . . . swear, curse, or prophaine Gods 
holy name, and if any person . . . shall offend therein, . . . 
[he] shall for every time . . . pay the sum of one shilling; . . . 
That there shall be no meetings, assemblies, or concourses of 
people outside of their own parishes on the Lords day, and that 
no person or persons whatsoever shall travell upon the said 
day, and that no other thing or matter whatsoever be done on 
that day which tends to the prophanation of the same, but that 
the same be kept holy in all respects, upon pain that every per- 
son ... so offending . . . shall . . . forfeit twenty shillings. 
. . . That all and every person and persons who shall from 
henceforth be drunk . . . shall for every such offence forfeit 
. . . ten shillings . . . [or] be committed to the stocks for 
. . . three full hours. ..." 

Clergy (1696). — "That all and every minister or ministers 
in all and every parish and parishes in this dominion . . . 
shall have and receive for his or their meantenance the sume 
of sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco besides their lawful 
perquisites, and that it shall . . . 'be lawfull for the vestry 
... of any parish ... to raise and levy the same in their 
respective parish. ..." 

Swearing, Drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, etc. (Revision 
in 1699 of act of 1691). — ''That if any person . . . brought 
upp in the christian religion shall . . . deny the being of a 
God ... or shall assert or maintaine there are more Gods 
then one or shall deny the christian religion to be true. . . . 
such person . . . for the first offence shall bee judged incapa- 
ble ... to hold and enjoy any office or imployment ecclesias- 
ticall civill or military. . . . And if such person . . . shall 
be a second time lawfully convicted . . . of . . . the crime 
. . . then hee . . . shall from thenceforth bee disabled to sue, 
prosecute, plead ... in any court of law or equity . . . and 
shall alsoe suffer . . . three years imprisonment. . . . That 
if any person . . .shall profanely sweare or curse or shall be 
drunk, he . . . shall forfitt . . . the sume of five shillings or 
fifty pounds of tobacco. . . . That if any person ... of the 
age of twenty-one yeares or more doe neglect or refuse to re- 
sort to their parrish church or chapell once in two monthes to 
heare devine service upon the sabbath day, . . . [he] shall 



THE MAKIXc; OF COLONIAL AMERICA 10* 
forfeit . . . five shillings of fifty pounds of tobacco. 

" 14 

The Present State of Virginia (An anonymous description 
of Virginia, written about 1696). "It is astonishing to hear 
what contrary characters are given of the country of Vir- 
ginia, even by those who have often seen it, and know it very 
well ; some of them representing it as the best, others as the 
worst country in the world. Perhaps they are both in the 
right. For ... as to the natural advantages of a country, 
it is one of the best ; but as to the improved ones, one of the 
worst of all the English plantations in America. When one 
considers the wholesomeness of its air, the fertility of its soil 
. . . ; in short, ... as it came out of the hand of God, it is 
certainly one of the best countries in the world. But . . . 
if we enquire for well-built towns, for convenient ports and 
markets, for plenty of ships and seamen, for well improved 
trades and manufactures, for well-educated children, for an 
industrious and thriving people, or for an happy government 
in church and state ; and in short, for all the other advantages 
of human improvements, it is certainly, for all these things, one 
of the poorest, miserablest, and worst countries in all America 
that is inhabited by christians. . . . 

The inhabitants are of three sorts, planters, tradesmen, and 
merchants. Though the planters are the most numerous, per- 
haps not the hundredth part of the country is yet cleared from 
the woods, and not one foot of the marsh and swamp drained. 
As fast as the ground is worn out with tobacco and corn, it 
runs up again in underwoods. . . . The only thing whereof 
they make much as they can is tobacco. . . . For want of towns, 
markets, and money, there is but little encouragement for trades- 
men and artificers. . . . The merchants live the best of any in 
that country; but yet are subject to great inconveniencies in 
the way of their trade, which might be avoided if they had towns, 
markets, and money. . . . The want of money ... is another 
great obstruction. ... It were good some common standard 
of money was established all over the English plantations of 
America : For Pennsylvania enhancing the price of money . . . 



14, W. W. Hening, Statutes of Virginia, II, 72-73, 152. 168-171. 



110 AMERICAN HISTORY 

does by that means drain all the money from Virginia and 
Maryland. . . . 

All the white men bear arms, and are listed in the several 
companies ... in the several counties where they live. . . . 
Besides the militia, . . . there is a lieutenant and 12 troopers 
maintained in constant pay, at the heads of each of the four 
great rivers, ... to look out for the Indian enemy. . . . 

In the year 1691 . . . the general assembly considering the 
bad circumstances of the country for want of education for 
their youth, went upon a proposition of a college, to which they 
gave the name of William and Mary college. They proposed 
that in this college there should be three schools, viz. a grammar 
school for teaching the Latin and Greek tongues ; a philosophy 
school for philosophy and mathematics; and a divinity school 
for the oriental tongues and divinity ; for it was one part of 
their design, that this college should be a seminary for the 
breeding of good ministers. . . ."^^ 

Robert Beverley: Virginia about lyoo (From his History 
of Virginia, written in 1705). 

"Of the Militia. . . . Every freeman . . . from sixteen to 
sixty years of age, is listed in the militia ; which by a law is 
to be mustered in a general muster for each county once a 
year ; and in single troops and companies, four times more at 
the least. . . . 

Of the Servants and Slaves. . . . Slaves are the negroes 
and their posterity. . . . They are called slaves, in respect of 
the time of their servitude, because it is for life. Servants, are 
those which serve only for a few years, according to the time 
of their indenture. . . . The male servants, and slaves of both 
sexes, are employed together in tilling and manuring the ground, 
in sowing and planting tobacco, corn, &c. ... a white woman 
[servant] is rarely or never put to work in the ground, if she 
be good for anything else. . . . Because I have heard how 
strangely cruel and severe the service of this country is rep- 
resented in some parts of England, I can't forbear affirming, 
that the work of their servants and slaves is no other than 



15. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1st series. \', 124128, 
161, 164. 




THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 111 

what every common freeman does ; . . . and I can assure you 
. . . that generally their slaves are not worked near so hard, 
nor so many hours in a day, as the husbandman, and day 
laborers in England. . . . [The] cruelties and severities im- 
puted to that country, are an unjust reflection. . . . 

Of . . . their Provision for the Poor. They live in so 
happy a climate, atid have so fertile a soil, that nobody is poor 
enough to beg, or want food, though they have an abundance 
of people that are lazy enough to deserve it. . . . But as they 
have nobody that is poor to beggars, so they have few that are 
rich. . . . When it happens, that by accident or sickness, any 
person is disabled from working, . . . he is then . . . re- 
ceived into some charitable planter's house, where he is at 
the public charge boarded plentifully. . . . There are large 
tracts of land, houses, and other things granted to free schools. 
. . . These schools have been founded by the legacies of well 
inclined gentlemen, and the management of them hath commonly 
been left to the direction of the county court, or to the vestry 
of the respective parishes. In all other places where such en- 
dowments have not been already made, the people join, and 
build schools for their children, where they may learn upon 
very easy terms. . . . 

Of Aliens in Virginia. Christians of all nations have equal 
freedom there, and upon their arrival become ipso facto entitled 
to all the liberties and privileges of the country, provided they 
take the oath, of obedience to the crown and government. . . . 

Of the Currency and Valuation of Coins. . . . The coin 
which chiefly they have among them, is either gold, of the 
stamp of Arabia, or silver and gold, of the stamp of France, 
Portugal, or the Spanish America: . . . [this] coined silver 
is settled by law at three pence three farthings the penny- 
weight. . . . English guineas [pass] at twenty-six shillings 
each. . . . 

Of the Buildings of Virginia. There are three fine public 
buildings in this country, which are said to be the most mag- 
nificent of any in the English America; one of which is the 
college, . . . another the capitol or state house. . . . The 
third is a house for the governor. . . . They are all built of 
brick, and covered with shingle. . . . The private buildings 



112 AMERICAN HISTORY 

are also . . . very much improved, several gentlemen there, 
having built themselves large brick houses of many rooms on 
a floor. . . . They love to have large rooms, that they may be 
cool in summer. 01. late they have made their stories much 
higher . . . and their windows larger, and sashed with crystal 
glass; adorning their apartments with rich furniture. All their 
drudgeries of cookery, washing, daries &c., are performed in 
offices apart from the dwelling houses, which by this means 
are kept more cool and sweet. Their tobacco houses are all 
built of wood. . . . Their common covering for dwelling houses 
is shingle . . . ; and though they have slate enough in some 
particular parts of the country, and . . . clay . . . for making 
of tile, yet they have very few tiled houses ; neither . . . 
[will] slate ... be made use of, till the carriage there becomes 
cheaper and more common. . . . 

Of the Edibles. . . . The families being altogether on coun- 
try seats, they have their graziers, seedsmen, gardeners, brew- 
ers, bakers, butchers and cooks, within themselves. They have 
plenty and variety of provisions for their table ; and for spicery, 
and other things that the country don't produce, they have 
constant supplies of them from England. . . . Their small 
drink is either wine and water, beer, milk and water, or water 
alone. . . . Their strong drink is Madeira wine, cider, mobby 
punch ... or brandy. . . . Their fuel is altogether wood. . . . 
Of the Clothing. . . . They have their clothing of all sorts 
from England; as linen, woollen, silk, hats and leather. Yet 
flax and hemp grow no where in the world better than here. 
Their sheep . . . bear good fleeces ; but they shear them only 
to cool them. . . . Nay, they are such abominable ill husbands 
[husbandmen], that though their country be overrun with wood, 
yet they have all their wooden ware from England ... to 
the eternal reproach of their laziness. . . . 

Inconveniences. . . . [A] 11 the annoyances and incon- 
vencies of the country may be fairly summed up, under these 
three heads, thunder, heat, and troublesome vermin. . . . 
^-•"'^"Kecreations and Pastimes. . . . For their recreation, the 
plantations, orchards and gardens constantly afiford them fra- 
grant and delightful walks. . . . They have hunting, fishing 
and fowling, with which they entertain themselves an hundred 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 113 

ways. There is the most good nature and hospitality practiced 
in the world, both towards friends and strangers ; but the worst 
of it is, this generosity is attended now and then with a little 
too much intemperance. The neighborhood is at much the 
same distance as in England; but the goodness of the roads, and 
the fairness of the weather, bring people often together. . . ." ^^ 

b. New England: 

Some Massachusetts Lazos of i6pi to i6p/ (Typical of the 
law'S of the New England Colonies in general). 

Capital Crimes (1693). — "If any man shall have or worship 
any other god but the true God, he shall be put to death. . . . 
If any man or woman be a witch, . . . they shall be put to 
death. ... If any person . . . blaspheme . . . by . . . 
denying the true God, ... or shall curse God, ... or reproach 
the holy religion of God, as if it were but a politick device to 
keep ignorant people in awe, ... he shall be put to death. 
. . . If any person . . . shall be . . . adjudged to be 
traitors [against the Crown] . . . [he] shall suffer the pains 
of death. ... If any person shall commit wilful murder . . . 
[or] slay another through guile . . . [he] shall suffer death. 
. . . If any person . . . shall wittingly . . . burn or cause to be 
burned any dwelling-house, meeting-house, storehouse or ship, 
. . . [he] shall be put to death. ... If any shall piratically 
. . . seiz any ship . . . [he] shall be put to death. ..." 

Lord's Day (1693). — "That all and every person . . . shall 
on that day, carefully apply themselves to duties of religion 
and piety, publickly and privately ; and that no tradesman, artifi- 
cer, labourer or other person whatsoever, shall . . . do or 
exercise any labour, . . . nor use any game, sport, play or 
recreation on the Lord's Day. . . . That no traveler . . . 
shall travel on that day. . . . That no . . . innholder shall 
. . . suffer any of the inhabitants ... or others not being 
strangers and lodgers in such houses, to . . . remain in their 
houses, yards, orchards or fields, drinking, or idly spending their 
time ... on the Lord's Day. . . . And all and every justices 



16. Robert Beverley, History of Virginia (Richmond edition of 1855), 
parts of 217-254. 



114 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the peace [etc.] . . . are required ... to restrair all 
persons from swimming in the water : unnecessary and unsea- 
sonable walking in the streets or fields . . . ; keeping open 
their shops, or following their secular occasions or recreations 
. . . on . . . the said day. ..." 

Ministers and Schoolmasters (1693). — "That the inhabitants 
of each town ... be constantly provided of an able, learned 
orthodox minister or ministers . . . [who] shall be . . . 
maintained by the inhabitants of such town . . . and the 
whole town shall be obliged to pay towards his . . . mainte- 
nance, each man his several proportion thereof. . . . That 
every town . . . shall be constantly provided of a schoolmaster 
to teach children and _\ outh how to write. And where any town 
or towns have the number of one hundred families . . . there 
shall also be a grammar school. . . . Every . . . schoolmaster 
to be . . . paid by the inhabitants. ..." 

Atheism and Blasphemy (revision in 1697 of the act of 
1693). — "That if any person shall . . . blaspheme . . . either 
by denying, cursing or reproaching the true God, his creation, 
or government of the world . . . ; every one so offending 
shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding six months, 
. . . by setting in the pillory, by whipping, boring through 
the tongue with a red hot iron, or setting upon the gallows with 
a rope about their neck, at the discretion of the court . . . ; 
provided, that not more than two of the afore-mentioned pun- 
ishments shall be inflicted for one and the same fact." ^^ 

Rev. William Hubbard: The Soil of Nczv England (From 
his History of New England, written about 1680). ". . . As 
for the soil, it is for the general more mountainous and hilly 
than otherwise, and in many places very rocky and full of 
stones ; yet intermingled with many plains and valleys. . . . 
But here and there are many rich and fruitful spots of land, 
. . . near the banks of great rivers, that oftimes are overflown 
by the channels of water that run beside them. ... In many 
such places their land hath been known to be sown or planted 
full forty years together, without any considerable abatement 
of the crop, never failing of thirty or forty bushel per acre : 



17. AciS and Resolves of Province of Massachusetts Bay, I, 55-56, 58-59, 
62-63, 297. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 115 

but for the generality of the soil, it is of a lighter sort of earth, 
whose fruitfulness is more beholding to the influences of the 
heavens . . . [and the] seasonable skill and industry of the 
husbandmen, than [to] the strength of its own temper. ..." ^"^ 

John Diinton: Journal of a Voyage to Massachusetts (1686). 
"... The country appeared at first like a barren waste, but 
we found humanity enough when we came amongst the inhabi- 
tants. ... A particular account of the government in New 
England would be foreign [to my purpose] . . . ; let it be 
enough to say, the laws in force here, against immorality and 
profaneness, are very severe. . . . Witchcraft is punished with 
death, as 'tis well known ; and theft with restoring fourfold, if 
the criminal be sufficient. . . . He that trades with the inhabi- 
tants of Boston, should be well furnished with a Grecian faith ; 
he may get promises enough, but their payments come late. 
. . . But I must make a transition to arms. It is their custom 
here for all that can bear arms, to go out on a training day. 
. . . Being come into the field, the captain called us all into 
our close order, in order to go to prayer, and then prayed him- 
self. And when our [military] exercise was done, the captain 
likewise concluded with prayer. I have read that Gustavus 
Adolphus . . . would . . . kneel ... at the head of his army, 
and pray to God. . . . But solemn prayer in the field upon a 
day of training I never knew but in New England, where it 
seems it is a common custom. About three of the clock, both 
our exercise and prayers being over, we had a very noble din- 
ner, to which all the clergy were invited. Some time after I 
took a trip to Newton, called Cambridge, in regard, it is the 
seat of Harvard College. This university took its rise from 
very small beginnings . . . in . . . 1636. . . . The library of 
this College is very considerable. . . . " ^'' 

John Josselyn: A Royalist Viezv of New England (From an 
account of a voyage of 1673). "... The Government both 
Civil and Ecclesiastical is in the hands of the thorow-pac'd 
Independents and rigid Presbyterians. The . . . great mas- 
ters, as also some of their Merchants are damnable rich; 



18. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 2d series, V, 22-23. 

19. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 2d series, II, 99-100, 
107108. 



116 AMERICAN HISTORY 

generally all of their judgement, inexplicable covetous and 
proud, they receive your gifts but as an homage or tribute due 
to their transcendency, which is a fault their Clergie are also 
guilty of, whose living is upon the bounty of their hearers. 
. . . The chiefest objects of discipline, true Religion, and 
morality they want, ... no trading for a stranger with them, 
but with a Graecian faith, which is not to part with your ware 
without ready money, for they are generally in their payments 
recussant and slow, great Syndics, or censors, or controllers of 
other mens manners, and savagely factious amongst themselves. 
There are many strange women too (in Solomon's sence) more 
the pitty. . . . But mistake me not to general speeches, . . . 
there are many sincere and religious people among them, . . . 
amongst these we may account the Royalists, who are looked 
upon with an evil eye, and tongue boulted or punished if they 
chance to lash out. . . . They have store of Children, and are 
well accommodated with Servants . . . ; of these some are 
English, others Negroes. . . . There are none that beg in the 
Countrey, but there be Witches too many. . . . It is published 
in point, that there are not much less than Ten-thousand souls 
English, Scotch, and Irish in New-England. . . ."^^ 

Governor Bradstrect: A Report on Masachusetts (1680). 
"... The principall Townes of trade within our Government 
are Boston Charlestown and Salem. . . . the buildings in the 
Country are generally of timber, many fortified with strong 
pallisadoes a good security against the Indians arrows and small 
shot : In Boston there are some houses of Brick and stone 
. . . : Since the last great fire in Boston, that consumed about 
two hundred houses . . . It is endeavoured and ordered that all 
should bee built . . . with brick or Stone ; which yet will hardly 
bee attained by reason of the poverty of the Inhabitants. There 
are as many precincts and divisions within our Government as 
there are Town's vizt. about Forty. In Boston there are three 
large Churches or meeting houses, . . . the other towns Town's 
generally have one minister. . . . Wee have few or no manu- 
factures as yet vendible in Forreign parts . . . the Cloth . . . 
&c. made here are used ... in the Country; our Staple [ex- 



20. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 3d series, III, 331-333. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 117 

port] comodities are fish, some peltry, . . . horses, provisions, 
Cyder, boards timber pipestaves, mackaril and Fish hath for- 
merly been more beneficiall . . . then now. . . . There have 
been very few English come to plant in this jurisdiction for 
Seven yeares past or more, and few or no Scots Irish or For- 
reigners, . . . they rather go to Carolina or other places more 
commodious, . . . for with us all the Lands neer the Sea Coast 
are appropriated, . . . and up into the Country is more diffi- 
cult. . . . Now and then, two or three Negro's are brought 
hither from Barbados, ... So that there may bee within our 
Government about one hundred or one hundred and twenty, 
and it may be as many Scots . . . and about halfe so many 
Irish, brought hither at severall times as servants. . . . Few 
planters or Country people have great Estates, hee is accounted 
a rich man in the Country that is worth one thousand or Fif- 
teen hundred pounds. . . ."-^ 

New England has outdone all America (An anonymous ac- 
count written in London in 1689). "Xew England differs from 
other foreign plantations in . . . the . . . motives inducing 
the first planters to remove into that American desert. Other 
plantations were built upon worldly interests ; New England 
upon that which is purely religious. . . . The hazards which 
they ran, and the difficulties . . . cannot easily be expressed. 
. . . But . . . being settled under a good and easy government, 
the plantation prospered wondrously ; yea, so as cannot be paral- 
leled in any history. . . . Some have observed, that since the 
year 1640 more persons have removed out of New England 
than have gone thither. Nevertheless, the four thousand who 
did, between that [1640] and the year 1620, transplant them- 
selves into New England, are so marvelously increased, as that 
. . . they are now become not less than two hundred thousand 
souls. There are towns and villages on the sea coast, from 
Long Island to Boston, which is three hundred miles, and from 
Boston to Pemaquid, which is two hundred miles. . . . The 
other American plantations cannot well subsist without New 
England, which is by a thousand leagues nearer to them than 
either England or Ireland; so that they are supplied with pro- 



21. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 3d series, VIII, 332-340. 



118 AMERICAN HISTORY 

visions, beef, pork, meal, fish, &c. chiefly from New England. 
... It is then, in a great part, by means of New England, 
that the other plantations are made prosperous and beneficial. 
. . . Some manufactures there are amongst them, but not a 
twentieth part of what the country has need of. Most of their 
clothing, both as to woollen and linen, they have from Eng- 
land. They make returns in beaver, moose and deer skins, oil 
and iron, all which commodities the country affords. ... I 
know not whether there be a better place for shipping in the 
world; nor can I say how many hundreds of vessels of their 
own building do belong to the country. They yearly build 
many good ships, some of which are sold here at London. . . . 
New England is the Key of America. If the French king had 
got that into his possession, he would soon have been master of 
America. . . . Let me say that New England has . . . out- 
done all America. For there they have erected an University, 
which began anno 1642. . . . The tutors there instruct their 
pupils in logick, natural and moral philosophy, metaphysicks, 
geography, astronomy, arithmetick and geometry, &c. . . ."^^ 

c. The Middle Colonies: 

Charles Lodwick: Nezv York in i6p2 (From a letter to his 
uncle in London). ". . . Our chiefest unhappyness here is 
too great a mixture of nations, and English ye least part: ye 
French Protestants have in ye late King's reign resorted hither 
in great numbers. . . . Ye Dutch, generally ye most frugall 
and laborious, and consequently ye richest ; whereas ye most of 
ye English are ye contrary, especially ye trading part. As to 
Religion, we run so high into all Opinions that here is, (I fear,) 
but little reall ; . . . yet God hath blessed us with a healthy 
climate, a fruitful Soil, plenty of all sorts of provisions needful 
for ye support of Mankind. We are ye chief granary to most 
of ye West India islands. . . . The Country is generally 
healthy, tlio' 2 years ago ye Small Pox . . . was very mortal, 
especially to grown people . . . ; a hott summer . . . causes 
violent fevers, yet not generally mortal ; . . . the Ague has 
been lately ryfe amongst us. . . . " -^ 



22. Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 3d series, I, 93-101. 

23. New York Historical Society Collections, new series. II, 244-248. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA , 119 

Governor Basse of New Jersey: A Proclamation for the 
Suppression of Vice and Immorality (1698). "It being very 
necessary for the good & prosperity of this Province . . .to 
endeavor as much as in us lyeth the extirpation of all sorts 
of looseness, & prophanitie & to unite and Join [all] in the fear 
and love of God ... I have therefore thought fit by & with 
the advice of the councill of this Province . . . strictly to 
prohibit all inhabitants & sojourners within this Province from 
cursing swearing immoderate drinking Sabbath breaking & all 
sorts of lewdness and prophane behaviour in word or action and 
for the true and effectual performance hereof I do . . . com- 
mand all Justices of the Peace Sheriffs Constables & all other 
officers . . . that they take due care that all the laws for the 
suppressing of Vice & encouraging of Religion and virtue par- 
ticularly the observation of the Lord's Day be duly put in exe- 
cution as they will answer the contrary at their peril. . . . " -* 

A Gentleman's Home Furnishings (A list of the "goods" 
left by W^illiam Penn on his departure for England in 1701). 

"In the Best Chamber. One bed and bolster, 2 pillows, 2 
blankets, 1 silk quilt, 1 suit of satin curtains; 1 table and pair 
of stands, 1 looking glass, 6 cane chairs, and 2 with twiggen 
bottoms ; 1 little black box, 1 water stand, 1 chamber chair ; 

1 pair of brasses, with fire-shovel and tongs, 1 little cane stool, 
4 satin cushions. . . . 

In the Entry. Two chests of drawers, 2 trunks, and 1 box. 

In the Garrets. Four bedsteads, 2 beds, 1 quilt, 1 rug, 2 
blankets; three side-saddles, one of which is my mistress's; 2 
pillows, 1 cloth. 

In the Lower Rooms : — Best Parlor. Two tables, 1 pair 
stands, 2 great cane chairs, and 4 small do. ; 7 cushions, four of 
them satin, the other three green plush ; 1 pair brasses, brass 
fire-shovel, tongs, and fender ; 1 pair bellows ; 2 large maps. 

The other Parlor. Two tables, 6 chairs, 1 great leathern 
chair ; 1 clock ; pair of brasses ; 1 teapot, 6 cups and saucers, 

2 basins. 



24. W. A. Whitehead, Documents Colonial History New Jersey (New 
Jersey Archives), II, 206. 



120 AMERICAN HISTORY 

In the Little Hall. Six leather chairs and two wooden ones ; 

5 maps. 

Great Hall. One long table, and 2 forms, 6 chairs, 1 little 
table, 1 napkin press; 3 very large pewter dishes, 6 lesser ones, 

6 of the best pewter, 4 soup-dishes, 2 pie-plates, 2 cheese-plates, 
2 doz. of the London plates and 4 doz. of the common ones, 
2 stands, 5 mazarines, 1 cullendar, 2 cisterns, 2 rings, 1 doz. 
and 10 patty-pans. 

Linen and Plate in the Great Red Trunk. Two pair fine 
Holland sheets, marked W. P. ; 2 pair pillow-cases, . . . ; 
1 table and sideboard cloth of fine damask; also, 18 napkins, 2 
towels (damask) . . . ; 1 table and one sideboard cloth, 12 
napkins . . . ; 5 towels ... all of fine Irish diaper ; 3 table- 
cloths and 2 long towels ... ; 21 napkins . . . ; 1 sideboard- 
cloth, 1 table-cloth, 12 napkins, marked W. P. H. in eyelet- 
holes, of fine Dutch diaper. In all, 2 pair sheets, 2 pair pillow 
cases, 9 table-cloths, 7 doz. and 10 napkins, 5 lesser table-cloths, 
9 towels, 10 calico curtains, and 4 damask ones. 

Plate. One large tankard, 1 basin, 6 salts, 1 skillet, 5 plates, 

7 spoons, 1 little spoon, 2 forks, 2 porringers, 2 little cups . . . ; 
a small candlestick and snuffers ; 1 chafing-dish. . . . 

In the Little Closet below. Four large delf dishes 4 lesser 
ones, 1 large white basin, 2 lesser ditto, 16 white plates, 10 blue 
ditto, 4 flower-basins ; some ordinary earthenware, and the set of 
Tunbridge-ware. 

Chest of drawers. Five pair of large warm sheets, 5 pair 
lesser ones . . . ; 7 pair pillow cases . . . ; 4 pair coarser, 
ditto . . . ; 4 pair small, ditto. ... In all 6 table-cloths, 5 
sideboard ditto, 12 towels, 4 doz. napkins, 11 napkins, 3 table- 
cloths, 7 napkins (older ones). 

In a Great Box. Nine coarse sheets . . . ; 6 pair whiter 
ditto . . . ; 2 pair, marked P. in blue ; 7 pair pillow-cases, 
9 coarse towels, 2 long ones, 3 huckaback table-cloths ; 2 doz. 
napkins, huckaback; 3 table-cloths, Osnaburgs." -•" 

Life in Pennsylvania about lyoo (Extracts from the letters 
of James Logan at Philadelphia to William Penn in England, 



25. Edw. Armstrong. Peiin-Logan Correspondence (Memoirs Pa. Hist. 
Society, IX), I, 62-64. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 121 

during 1701-1702). Oct. 10, 1701.— "By the last past from New 
York before this, we were informed that next week would be 
early enough to write by the first ship to sail from thence. 
. . . The enclosed letters came ten days ago, one expected, by 
way of Boston. ..." 

Dec. 1701. — "There is so great an uncertainty of markets 
everywhere that we know not how to move or stand. Last fall 
trade to the W. Indies was dead among us. ..." 

1702. — "Though there were forty acres cleared at Pennsbury 
at thy going off, there was but little fit for immediate service. 
John Sotcher has now cleared, I suppose, forty acres since. 
. . . John and Mary are as good servants as any in Amer- 
ica. ..." 

March 7, 1702.- — "[A] . . . distemper [is] now greatly 
reigning amongst us ... ; and but a few houses in town are 
or have been clear, though now 'tis grown very favorable. . . . 
The town mill . . . does exceedingly well, and of a small one 
i? equal to any of this province. I . . . put her into good and 
expeditious hands, who at the opening of the frost would have 
set her a-going, had not the want of stones delayed ; and the 
dam afterwards breaking with a freshet prevented. . . . There 
is but one pair of stones upon the mill. . . . If an opportunity 
offer, it would do well, I believe, to ship a small pair from 
thence; the freight will be cheap, and the price about £15. I 
suppose we can get none here under £50 or £60. ..." 

May 29, 1702. — "The great scarcity of money, and the decay 
of trade this summer, with that and the small-pox, has been 
very discouraging, and makes business very difficult." 

June 13, 1702. — "The tobacco, I hope will prove good. . . . 
The town mill does well, but has little custom. ... If I thought 
J. S. would bring no servants I would venture to buy one. . . ." 

Aug. 2, 1702. — ". . . We have scarce any trade to the 
West Indies ; our goods that we bought here for 20, sell there 
for 15. . . . Wheat bears no price ; the bolters universally 
refuse to buy. I am sorry letters cannot be more pleasant. ..." 

Oct. 1, 1702. — "Thou received a new wig thyself some little 
time before thy departure . . . which cost either forty or fifty 
shillings, and N. Puckle would put an ill-favored one on me 



122 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . ; but I sent it forthwith to my wig maker's to sell to the 
best advantage. ..." 

Jan. 3, 1703. — "In Sussex and Kent they have had a mortal 
distemper — more fatal, 'tis affirmed, than that of [New] York 
last year, or of Philadelphia in 1699; it reigned most of the 
winter, but is now happily over. The small-pox has been 
favorable in all these parts— only in Bucks, where it has con- 
tinued all winter, it has been more severe. . . . We have been 
clear of it these six months, and since the agues and fevers, 
which were epidemical, left us, we have been, and through 
mercy continue healthy." ^^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What obligations do you find the Colonies were under 
to the Mother Country? (2) On what subjects had Parlia- 
ment legislated in regard to the Colonies before 1700? (3) In ves- 
sels of what nation only could goods be shipped to or from 
the Colonies? (4) To what markets did the chief products 
of the Colonies have to be sent? (5) From what markets 
could the Colonists buy their supplies of European (non-Eng- 
lish) goods? (6) What abuse was the third Navigation Act 
intended to remedy? (7) What was the chief English organ 
for the administration of Colonial affairs? (8) What were 
the things it was sup])osed to do? (9) Who chose the majority 
of the colonial officials in the "royal" colony? (10) In the 
"proprietary" colony? (11) In the "charter" colony? (11) 
Who chose the officers of a New England town or township? 
(12) Of a Southern county? (13) Of a Southern parish?' 
(14) What was the chief means of military defence in all of 
the Colonies? (15) What was the penalty in New England 
for blasphemy? (16) What was the penalty in Virginia? (17) 
What were the industries- of New England? (18) Of the 
Southern Colonies? (19) Of the Middle Colonies? (20) 
What were some of the drawbacks to life in the North? (21) 
In the South? (22) In the Middle Colonies? (23) What 
did Penn evidently use for heating his home? for light? (24) 
What different kinds of dishes do you find enumerated? (25) 
What is the significance of Colonial Spelling, Capitalization 
and Punctuation ? 

II. (1) What different things helped define the relation of 
the Colonies to the Mother Country in 1700? (2) What were 
the objects of the English restrictions on Colonial trade? (3) 

26. Edw. Armstrong, PennLogan Correspondence, (Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem- 
oirs, IX), I, 64-65, 81, 93-100, 126, 128, 137, 149, 173. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 123 

What was the most important difference between a "royal" 
and a "charter" colony? (4) Which of these did the "pro- 
prietary" colony most resemble? (5) What organ of govern- 
ment was the same in all three kinds of colonies? (6) What 
was the most important difference between Northern and South- 
ern types of local government? (7) Make a list of all of the 
King's officers in a "royal" colony, and the power or authority 
each officer had. (8) Which group of colonies had the most 
severe laws in regard to swearing, sabbath-breaking, etc.? (9) 
In which group of colonies do you think you would have pre- 
ferred to live? Why? (10) What means of transportation 
do you find mentioned? of communication? (11) What kinds 
of money or means of exchange did the Colonies use? 

III. (1) What defines the relation of our States to our 
Union (or national government) to-day? (2) What corre- 
sponded to this in 1700 in defining the relation of the Colonies 
to England? (3) Does the type of local government in your 
state correspond to that of New England or that of Virginia 
in 1700? (4) What other type of local government is there, 
and where did it originate? (5) Contrast 1700 and to-day as to 
houses, furnishings, heat, light, dress, transportation, communi- 
cation, industries, ideals. 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent, 60-68 ; Ashlev. 104- 
124 (about 1750); Channing (revision 1908), 120-126 (about 
1760); Hart, 91-105 (1700-1750); James & Sanford. 91-103, 
130-134; Macdonald's Johnston, 24-26, 48, 54, 64-65, 69-72, 77- 
80, 97-100; McLaughlin. 151-168 (about 1760); McMaster. 58, 
92-108 (about 1760) ; Montgomery. 156-176 (about 1760) ; 
Thomas (revision 1903), 78-84, 104-106 (about 1760). 



SECTION VII 

EXTERNAL CONFLICT AND INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT, 

1689-1763 

With the year 1689, the French again became of impor- 
tance in the history of the English colonies. While the 
English had been adding New York, the Carolinas, and 
Pennsylvania to their colonial empire in America, the French 
had explored and occupied with posts the whole interior of 
the continent from the Lakes to the Gulf, hemming the Eng- 
lish in east of the Alleghanies and threatening them with 



124 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ultimate destruction. This was only typical of French pro:::- 
ress all over the world ; and with the accession of William 
III to the English throne in 1689 began a fifty years' strug- 
gle between England and France for supremacy in Europe, 
India, Africa, and America. Four European wars marked 
the progress of this conflict, and each had its counterpart in 
the American colonies. The first three produced but slight 
results in America ; but the fourth — the French and Indian 
War in America, the Seven Years' War in Europe — ban- 
ished France from continental North America, and left the 
English in possession of all North America east of the 
Mississippi, from Hudson's Bay on the north to the Gulf 
of Mexico on the south. 

While this struggle for the continent was under way, 
the territorial expansion of the English colonies continued, 
though more slowly than before. About 1710 great num- 
bers of Germans began migrating to the English colonies ; 
a few years later began an even greater migration of the 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians from the Ulster Protestant dis- 
trict of northern Ireland. The two streams of migration 
made their way westward through the various colonies — 
especially Pennsylvania — and uniting, flowed down the 
Great Valley between the two ridges of the Alleghany 
mountains, back of Maryland, Virginia, and North Caro- 
lina. This was the first of our over-the-mountain "westward 
movements." At almost the same time this movement was 
getting under way, philanthropic men in England sought to 
found in Georgia a new colony that should prove a refuge 
for the poorer people of all Protestant countries. They 
founded their colony ; but its progress was slow, and fraught 
with dissention ; and in 1752 the proprietors surrendered its 
charter to the king, and Georgia became a royal colony. 

One other line of development also ran through the years 
1689-1763. It was the attempt of England, on the one hand, 
to increase its control over the colonies and make colonial 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 125 

institutions more uniform; and the attempt of the colonies, 
on the other hand, to increase the power of their popular 
assemblies and prevent the growth of greater English au- 
thority over them. This constant assertion of authority on 
the part of England, and of rights on the part of the colo- 
nists, helped to prepare the way for the later Revolutionary 
conflict between the mother country and the colonies. 

1. FRENCH-ENGLISH STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY IN 
AMERICA 

a. Causes and Character of the French-English Conflict: 

John Hampden : The Beginning of a Struggle for European 
Supremacy (From his pamphlet, "State of the [English] Na- 
tion," London, 1692). "... we are in a state of war. . . . 
The enemy with whom we have to deal is the French king, 
who is not only our enemy, but, in some sort, may be said to be 
the enemy of mankind. If there be any thing dear and valuable 
to mankind, he has given the example of tearing and ravish- 
ing it from them. ... It has been the design of his whole 
life to establish in Europe what they call an Universal Mon- 
archy ; which may more properly be called, the enslaving of all 
Europe. . . . His hatred to all that bear the name of Protest- 
ants, is inveterate and invincible. . . . His armies are the 
most great and numerous that at any time were ever on foot 
in Europe. . . . His fleets . . . are . . . grown so power- 
ful, that he is able with them to look England and Holland in 
the face at the same time. There is no hope nor prospect of 
any safe peace to be made with him, unless we can destroy 
and ruin his power at sea, and . . . put a stop to . . . 
supplies of stores and provisions for his armies. . . . The 
causes and ends of our war are both just and necessary in the 
highest degree: self-defense, the maintenance of our antient 
free government, the asserting our rights and liberties ; and 
above all, the preservation of the Protestant religion against 
Popery and Idolatry. . . . [France] must be subdued, or we 
ourselves entirelv ruined. . . ." ^ 



1. T. C. Hansard, Parliamentary History of England, V, appendix, Ixviii- 
Ixix. 



126 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Governor Callieres of Montreal: French Dominion over all 
North America (Report to French government, January, 1689). 
"As the recent Revolution in England will change the face of 
American afYairs, it becomes necessary to adopt entirely new 
measures to secure Canada against the great dangers with which 
it is threatened. . . . [The] only means to avoid these misfor- 
tunes is to anticipate them by the expedition [against Albany] 
... on condition of negotiating eventually with the [English] 
King for that Colony [New York], which is the only means 
of securing Canada, firmly establishing the Religion, Trade and 
the [French] King's authority throughout all North America. 
If the favorable opportunity which presents of becoming mas- 
ter of that Colony be neglected, ... it will destroy Canada 
in a little time ; whose ruin will entail that of . . . Hudson's 
Bay and . . . Acadia . . . and Newfoundland. . . ." - 

Colonel Bayard of Nezv York: The French in America must 
be stifled (Letter to Capt. Nicholson, Aug. 5, 1689). ". . . 
the French of Cannida . . . will never desist as long as they 
continue there, by all possible means to entice our Indians 
against us and all His Maj'ties subjects on this continent, 
... to the utter mine of all the English settlements on this 
Continent. Itts therefore most certaine that these English Col- 
lonies well never be at rest or safe till those ill designs of the 
French be stiffled by the subduing and invading of Canada 
. . . ; wee have various reports that the warr is proclaimed be- 
tween England and France, which is soo I humlily conceave it 
would be the only time to make that attempt this verry next 
spring. . . ." ^ 

b. The Three Preliminary Conflicts, 1689-1748: 

American Results of First French-English War (Treaty of 
Ryswick, 1697, ending King William's War, 1689-1697). ". . . 
Commissioners shall be appointed on both sides, to examine 
and determine the rights and pretensions which either of the 
said Kings hath to the places situated in Hudson's Bay. . . ." * 



2. J. R. Brodhead, Documents relating to Colonial History of New York, 
IX, 404-408. 

3. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc.. Ill, 611-612. 

4. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 223. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 127 

Earl of Bellomont: We shall lose our Colonies (Letter from 
New York to the Lords of Trade, Oct. 24, 1700). " Our Indians 
when I was now last at Albany said they had lost 120 men 
since the peace [of 1697] ... I appeal to your Lordships 
whether the Five Nations can at this rate last many years and 
be a barrier between these Plantations and the French. . . . 
We shall loose the Five Nations and all our American Planta- 
tions by our frugality. . . ." ^ 

M. Iberville: Nczv England must be destroyed (A Memorial 
to the French government, 1701). "The reduction of Boston 
would infallibly draw after it the ruin of that country [New 
England] ; were the grain of Long Island burnt, the settlers 
would be obliged to retire into Pennsylvania. . . . The aban- 
donment of these parts would greatly weaken New- York, and 
deprive it of the power of undertaking anything. ... If the 
security of Canada depend on the capture of Boston and ad- 
joining coasts, the establishment of Acadia is still more in- 
volved. ... It is easy to see that it will be impossible ever 
to establish that Colony, unless we outnumber the English forces 
who are so far superior to ours that they are not only able to 
trouble us, but even to destroy the establishments we would 
make there. . . ." "^ 

American Results of Second French-English War (Treaty 
of Utrecht, 1713, ending Queen Anne's War, 1702-1713). ". . . 
The . . . most Christian King [of France] shall restore to the 
kingdom and Queen of Great Britain, to be possessed in full 
right for ever, the bay ... of Hudson, together with all lands 
. . . belonging thereunto, . . . likewise all Nova Scotia or 
Acadie, with its ancient boundaries. . . . The island called 
Newfoundland . . . shall from this time forward belong of 
right wholly to Britain. . . . The subjects of France inhabit- 
ing Canada . . . shall hereafter give no hindrance or moles- 
tation to the five nations ... of Indians, [the Iroquois, who 
are] subject to the dominion of Great Britain. . . . But it is 
to be exactly and distinctly settled by commissaries, who are, 



5. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., IV, 768. 

6. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., IX, 732. 



128 AMERICAN HISTORY 

and who ought to be accounted the subjects and friends of 
Britain or of France." '' 

Colonel Heathcote of New York: The French and Eng- 
lish cannot both inhabit this Continent in peace (Report to 
Governor Hunter of New York, July 8, 1715). "The last post 
brought us the unwellcome newes of the French haveing . . . 
entered the Onnondagoes country. ... It is undoubtedly by 
the management of the French that the fire is kindled in Caro- 
lina, & thcy'le not be wanting of their endeavours to spread 
the flame through the whole coast. . . . [W]ould [it] not be 
very proper ... to desire a meeting or congresse at some 
convenient place, of all or as many of the Governours on this 
Continent as can with conveniency come & attend it ; . . . 
[to consider] what measures to take for extinguishing the fire 
aliready begun, & to prevent its increase ; for . . . every part 
of North America is struck at, . . . [and we ought] not care- 
lessly suffer the French to angle us away, province by province, 
till at last all will be gon ; and as it is impossible that we & 
the French can both inhabit this continent in peace but that at 
last one nation must give way to the other, so 'tis very neces- 
sary that without sleeping away our time, all precautions im- 
aginable should be taken to prevent its falling to our lotts to 
remove. . . . But if the old rules are still put in practice, & 
those who are not imeediately concern'd will, like sheep, only 
stand gazing on. while the wolff is murthering & destroying 
other parts of the flock, it will come to every ones turn at 
last. . . ."" 

The French Government : The English aim to become Mas- 
ters of all America (From a Memorial of the French Ministry, 
August, 1725). "The projects set on foot by the English, since 
the Treaty of Utrecht, indicate that Canada is the object of 
their constant jealousy, and . . . it is more and more obvious 
that the EngHsh are endeavoring to interlope among all the 
Indian Nations, and to attract them to themselves. They en- 
tertain constantly the idea of becoming masters of North Amer- 
ica, persuaded that the European nation which will be possessor 
of that section, will, in course of time, be also master of all 



7. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 231-232. 

8. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., V, 430-431. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 129 

America. . . . The question is to prevent them accomplish- 
ing their design. . . ." ° 

American Results of Third French-English War (Treaty of 
Aix la Chapelle, 1748, ending King George's War, 1744-1748). 
"... All the conquests, that have been made since the com- 
mencement of the war [in 1744], ... to be restored without 
exception, . . . And eve'rything . . . shall be re-established 
on the foot[ing] that they were . . . before the present 



c. The French and Indian War, 1754-1763: 

Fatlier Bonnccanip : The English on the Ohio (From his 
account of a journey down the Ohio, in 1749). "Behold, then, 
the English far within our territory ; and, what is more, they 
are under the protection of a crowd of savages whom they 
entice to themselves, and whose number increases every day. 
Their design is, without doubt, to establish themselves there ; 
and, if efficacious measures be not taken as soon as possible to 
arrest their progress, we run very great risk of seeing ourselves 
quickly driven from the upper countries, and of being obliged 
to confine ourselves to the limits which it may please those 
gentlemen to prescribe to us. . . ." ^^ 

The French Governuicnt : English Encroachments on the 
Ohio (From a paper by the French Ministry, September, 1750). 
". . . the English . . . have succeeded in causing a revolt 
among the Miamis . . . We must not be surprised that the 
English are seeking to insinuate themselves among our Indian 
Nations ; . . . Most of these movements . . . can be attrib- 
uted only to the cupidity of private Traders. . . . But what 
merits most our attention is the design of the English to push 
their settlements into the interior of the country so as to be able 
to interrupt the communication between the two Colonies of 
Canada and Louisiana. With this in view it is that they, since 
a long time, are projecting a settlement on the Beautiful [Ohio] 
river. ..." ^■- 



9. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. V., etc., IX, 950, 953. 

10. Wm. Macdoiiald, Select Charters, 252-253. 

11. R. G. Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, LXIX, 185. 

12. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., X. 220. 



130 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Ex-Govcrnor Galissonnicre of Canada: French Forts must be 
built upon the Ohio (1750). "Whilst peace appeared to have 
lulled the jealousy of the English in Europe, this bursts forth in 
all its violence in America. . . . [The] . . . superiority of the 
French in America is in some sort accidental, and if they neg- 
lect to maintain it, whilst the EngHsh are making every effort 
to destroy it, 'twill pass into the hands of the latter. . . . This, 
however serious it may seem, would not be our only loss ; it 
would drag after it that if the superiority which France must 
claim over England ... in Europe. . . . [The] River Oyo 
[Ohio] otherwise called the Beautiful river . . . [was] discovered 
by La Salle, who took possession of it in the King's name. . 
. . . Neither have the English any posts there, nor did they 
come to that quarter to trade . . . until the last war [1744- 
1748]. . . . The establishment of some posts on the Beautiful 
river is considered, then, one of the most urgent expenses. . . . 
In fine, nothing must be spared to strengthen these Colonies, 
since they . . . are to be considered as the bulwark of 
America, against the attacks of the English; since ... if] 
delivered over ... to the English, . . . [the English], by 
the wealth they would draw thence, to the exclusion of other 
Nations, would most certainly acquire the superiority in Eu- 
rope." ^^ ... 

Lieutenant-Governor Delancey of Nezv York: Let the Eng- 
lish build a Fort on tJie Ohio (Letter to the Lords of Trade, 
Nov. 29, 1753). "The French building Forts and making set- 
tlements on the River Ohio . . . will be of infinite bad conse- 
quence to His Majestys Dominions in America . . . ; They 
will intercept the Indian Trade and of course draw the Indians 
into a greater dependance on them than is consistent with the 
safety of his Majestys in North America. . . .Pensilvania 
and Virginia will find in an other War that they will prove as 
sharp Thorns in their sides. ... I would therefore humbly 
propose . . . that a Fort & Trading House ... be built 
and garrisoned on some convenient part of the Ohio within the 
Province of Pennsylvania . . . this will prevent the French 
being masters of that River. . . ."^* 



13. J. R. Brodhcad, Documents N. Y.. etc., X, 220, 224, 229-230, 232. 

14. J. R. Broadhead, Documents N. Y., etc., VI, 816. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 131 

Goz'crnor Dinzviddie of Virginia: The French Forts on the 
Ohio (Letter to Lieut. -Gov. Delancey of New York, Jan. 29, 
1754). "The Advances made by the French to deprive his 
Majesty of the Interiour part of America, makes it necessary 
for me to give your Honour part in the Intelligence I have just 
received of their Proceedings, by the Return of a Gentleman 
[Major George Washington] whom I sent to the French Com- 
mandant for that purpose. On his arrival he found that the 
French had taken post on a Branch of the River Ohio, and built 
a Fort, . . . and that they had in Readiness Materials for other 
Forts, which they declared their Intentions to erect on the 
River. . . . [When Washington] complained ... he was 
answered, ' That the Country belonged to them ; that no Eng- 
lishman had a Right to trade upon those Waters, and that he 
(the Commandant) had Orders to make every person prisoner 
that attempted it. . . ." ^^ 

Lieutenant-Governor Delancey: Outbreak of the French and 
Indian War (Letters to the Lords of Trade). May 21, 1754. 
"I lately received an express from GovV Hamilton of Pennsyl- 
vania, with intelligence that the French had drove our people 
from a small Fort on the Ohio." July 22, 1754. — " We have 
received the accotmt of Major Washington's defeat [in an at- 
tempt to retake the above fort] near the Ohio by the French. 
The particulars as in the paper enclosed may not be exact, but 
the truth of the disaster is not to be doubted. . . . should the 
Assemblies [of the other Colonies] do their duty, ... I hope 
Mr [Governor] Dinwiddle will be able to cope with the French 
on the Ohio." ^'"' 

Delegate Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts : The Albany 
Congress of i/54 (From his history of Massachusetts Bay). 
"Thus stood affairs between the English and French in Amer- 
ica, in the beginning of the year 1754, when government in 
England thought fit to recommend a convention of delegates 
from the assemblies of the several colonies, to be held at Al- 
bany. . . . Virginia and New Jersey . . . did not send 
commissioners. . . . After ' brightening the chain,' to use the 
Indian metaphor, between the British colonies, and the six 



15. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., VI, 827. 

16. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., VI, 838, 852. 



132 AMERICAN HISTORY 

nations, ... a representation to the king was agreed upon 
. . . [showing] the danger the colonies were in, of being 
driven by the French into the sea. . . . The commissioners 
then proceeded to the consideration of a plan for the union of 
the colonies . . . projected by Benjamin Franklin, Esq., . . . 
of . . . Pennsylvania. A representation was proposed by 
delegates from each colony, to be chosen by its assembly. The 
president was to be appointed by the crown . . . [and] to 
have a negative upon all acts : the acts were to be sent to Eng- 
land for the king's allowance or disallowance . . . [within] 
three years. . . . This assembly was to have power to make 
peace with, or declare war against the Indians ; to enact laws 
for the regulation of the Indian trade ; to purchase from the 
Indians . . . lands . . . for the purpose of making settle- 
ments ; to make laws for regulating such settlements, until the 
king forms them into governments ; . . . and for these pur- 
poses to . . . levy such . . . taxes as may be just and reasonable. 
. . . This plan, . . . though unanimously voted, was to be 
of no force until confirmed by the several assemblies. Not one 
of the assemblies from Georgia to New Hampshire . . . in- 
clined to part with so great a share of power as was to be 
given to this general government. The plan met with no bet- 
ter fate in England. It was . . . laid before the king . . . 
and no notice was afterwards publicly taken of the plan. . . . ^' 

British Plan of Campaign, and its Failure to 7757 (Extracts 
from reports of royal officers, 1755-1757). 

June 20, 1755. "Flis Excellency [Gen. Braddock] determin'd 
upon the whole plan, w'ch consisted of . . . operations upon 
the Ohio, at Niagara, in Nova Scotia, and Crown Point, to be 
executed as near as might be about the same time. According 
to this plan the French will be attack'd almost at the same time 
in all . . . North America; and if it should be successfully 
executed in every part, it seems highly probable that all points 
in dispute there with them may be adjusted this year. . . ." 

Aug. 7, 1755. "The Fatal account I lately received . . . 
of General Braddock's defeat and death, and the Army's re- 
treating to this side of the mountains. . . ." 

17. Thomas Hutchinson, History of Massachusetts Bay (London, 1828), 
III, 19-23 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 133 

Nov. 27, 1755. "Yesterday I returned . . . from Albany 
after a long residence there to assist and forward the expedi- 
tion to Crown Point. . . . The miscarriage of this Expedi- 
tion is owing to many circumstances but principally to a want 
of care in carrying up a proper quantity of Provisions. ..." 

Sept. 5, 1756. ". . . one of the Sailors . . . gives this 
information That . . . the enemy . . . attacked Fort Ontario 
.... for two days, when the English Garison abandoned it 
. . . and retired into the old Fort [Oswego], soon after the 
enemy . . . cannonaded the old Fort . . . for twenty four 
hours when Lieut Col Littlehales . . . sent out an officer & 
Drum with a white Flag, soon after the surrend'r took place, 
and the French possession of the Fort. . . ."' 

Sept. 10, 1756. "About the time the unhappy news of the 
loss of Oswego arrived, I had fitted out several parties of In- 
dians some of which were already gone a fighting to Canada. 
. . . This unfortunate Revolution in our military affairs, en- 
tirely disconcerted all my measures, and overset the pleasing 
prospect I had of thoroughly engaging the Indians of all the 
Six Nations in actual Hostilities against the French. . . ." ^° 

Colonel George Washington : Difficulties of the Jl'ar agai)ist 
the French (Extracts from Washington's correspondence, 1755- 
1756). 

Aug. 14, 1755. " I believe our circumstances are brought to 
such an unhappy dilemma, that no man can gain any honor by 
conducting our forces at this time, but will rather lose in his 
reputation if he attempts it." 

Oct. 8, 1755. "We are at a loss for want of almost every 
necessary. — tents, kettles, arms, ammunition, and cartridge- 
paper." 

Oct. 11, 1755. "In all things I meet with the greatest op- 
position. No orders are obeyed, but such as a party of soldiers, 
or my own drawn sword, reinforces . . . — to such a pitch has 
the insolence of these [frontier] people arrived. ... I see 
the growing insolence of the soldiers, and the indolence and 
inactivity of the officers. . . ." 

Jan. 14, 1756. "Unless clothing is soon provided, the men 
will be unfit for any kind of service." 

20. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., VI, 954, 990, 1021; VII, 123. 127. 



134 AMERICAN HISTORY 

April 16, 1756. "All my ideal hopes of raising a number of 
men to scour the adjacent mountains have vanished into noth- 
ing. Yesterday was the appointed time . . . and only fifteen 
[volunteers] appeared. . . ." 

April 22, 1756. "I see inevitable destruction In fact, 

the melancholy situation of the people, the little prospect of 
assistance, the gross and scandalous abuses cast upon the offi- 
cers in general, which is reflecting upon me in particular, . . . 
and the distant prospect, if any, of gaining honor and repu- 
tation in the service,— cause me to lament the hour, that gave 
me a commission, and would induce me, at any other time than 
this of imminent danger, to resign, without hesitating one mo- 
ment, a command, from which I never expect to reap either 
honor or benefit. . . ." 

Aug. 4, 1756. "I could by no means bring the Quakers to 
any terms. They chose rather to be whipped to death than to 
bear arms, or lend us any assistance whatever upon the fort, 
or anything for self-defence." 

Nov. 9, 1756. "First, the militia. The difficulty of collect- 
ing them on any emergency, I have often spoken of. . . . 
Again, the waste of provision they make is unaccountable. . . . 
I might add, . . . that, for the want of proper laws, . . . 
they are obstinate, self-willed, perverse, of little or no service 
to the people, and very burthensome to the country. . . . 
Secondly, concerning the garrisons. I found them very weak 
for want of men. ... I saw none in a posture of defence, and 
few that might not be surprised with the greatest ease. . . . 
Of the ammunition they are as careless as of the provisions. 
Thirdly, the wretched and unhappy situation of the inhabitants 
needs few words. ... In short, they are so affected with 
approaching ruin, that the whole back country is in a general 
motion towards the southern colonies. . . . '^^ 

Secretary William Pitt: A More Vigorous Campaign (In- 
structions to Royal Governors of the Colonies, Feb. 4, 1757). 
"The King having nothing more at heart, than the preservation 
ot his good subjects & Colonies of N. America, has come to 
a resolution of acting with the greatest vigour in those parts. 



18. J. Sparks, Writings of Washington, II, 96, 101, 104-105, 126, 138, 144, 
169, 194-197. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 135 

the ensuing campaign, and all necessary preparations are mak- 
ing, for sending a considerable reinforcement of Troops . . ; 
and the King doubts not but that the several Prov'ces . . . 
will exert their utmost endeavours to second, and strengthen, 
. . . offensive operations against the French, . . . and not 
clogg the enlistments of the Men or the raising of the money 
for their pay . . . with such limitations, as . . . hitherto, 
. . . and as a further encouragement, I am to acquaint you, 
that the raising of the Men, their pay, arms, and cloathing will 
be all, that will be required on the part of the several provinces ; 
measures having been already taken for laying up . . . stores 
and provisions ... at the expence of the Crown. . . ." ^^ 

From Defeat to Victory (Extracts from the correspondence 
of the British officials in the Colonies, 1757-1760). 

Aug. 24, 1757. "I am sorry to send you the disagreeable 
News of the Loss of Fort William Henry which surrendered 
to the French 9th Inst, after six days resistance. . . . This 
fort was one of the Keys of this Province [New York]. . . ." 

Sept. 30, 1758. "On the 23rd inst : was honored with your 
letter . . . informing me of the success of his Maj'ty's arms 
against the Enemy in Europe and Africa, and in return I have 
the pleasure to congratulate you on the success of his Majesty's 
arms in America. By the reduction of Cape Breton and its 
Dependencies, the uninterrupted Dominion of these Seas and 
the Powers of Trade are again restored to his Maj'ty's sub- 
jects ; by the destruction of Fort Frontenac . . . the dominion 
of the Lakes ... is restored to the British Empire. . . ." 

Dec. 13, 1758. "Yesterday I had the pleasure of receiving 
a letter from Brigadier General Forbes dated Pitt's Bourgh 
late Fort Duquesne . . . informing me that on his approach 
the French . . . had burnt and abandoned that Fort, of which 
he took possession the next day. ..." 

July 31, 1759. "I congratulate you on the success of His 
Majesty's Arms under General Amherst who is now in pos- 
session of the French Lines at Ticonderoga. . . ." 

Aug. 10, 1759. "I have again the pleasure of congratulating 
your Lordships on the further Success of His Majesty's Arms, 
in defeating the French forces coming to the relief of Niagara 



J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., VII, 216. 



136 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Fort, then besieged by us, which brought on the Capitulation 
the same Evening . . . and its Surrender the next morning, 
whereby His Majesty is now in possession of the most impor- 
tant pass in all the Indian country. . . ." 

Sept. 26, 1760. "With great joy I congratulate your Lord- 
ships on the entire reduction of the whole Country of Canada 
to His Majesty's Dominion. . . . We now persuade ourselves 
that an end is put to the War in America." -^ 

Bcnjauiin Franklin: A Pica for the English Retention of 
Canada (Extracts from his pamphlet on Canada, published 
anonymously in London in 1760). "I have perused, with no 
small pleasure, the Letters addressed to Tzuo Great Men, and 
the Remarks on that letter. . . . But . . . there are, I appre- 
hend, in the Re}narks, some opinions not well founded. . . . 
Erecting Forts in the back Settlements, [is] almost in no In- 
stance a sufficient Security against the Indians and the French ; 
but the Possession of Canada implies every Security. . . . The 
American Colonies [are] not dangerous ... to Great Britain. 
Of this, I own, I have not the least conception, when I consider 
that we have already fourteen separate governments. . . . 
Their jealousy of each other is so great, that, however necessary 
a union of the colonies has long been . . . ; yet they have never 
been able to effect such a union among themselves, nor even to 
agree in requesting the mother country to establish it for them. 
... If they could not agree to unite . . . against the French 
and Indians, . . . can it reasonably be supposed there is any 
danger of their uniting against their own nation . . . ? When 
I say such a union is impossible, I mean, without the most 
grievous tyranny and oppression. . . . What such an admin- 
istration, as the Duke of Alva's in the Netherlands, might pro- 
duce, I know not; but this I think I have a right to deem im- 
possible. . . . The French remaining in [possession of Can- 
ada, would be] an Encouragement to Disaffections in the 
British Colonies. . . .'" -- 

Results of the Final French-English War (Extracts from 
the treaties of peace, 1762-1763). 



21. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., VII, 274, 349, 352, 399, 401. 

22. J. Sparks, Wriangs of Franklin, IV, 2-3, 11, 41-44. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 137 

French-Spanish treaty, Nov. 3, 1762. "Louis. . . . King 
of France. . . . being fully sensible of the sacrifices made by 
the Catholic [Spanish] King . . . cedes ... to his Catholic 
Majesty ... all the country known under the name of 
Louisiana, as well as New Orleans and the island in which that 
place stands." -^' 

French-Spanish-English treaty, Feb. 10, 1763. " His most 
Christian Majesty [the King of France] renounces all preten- 
sions ... to Nova Scotia or Acadia, in all parts . . . ; 
moreover . . . [he] cedes and guaranties to his . . . Britainic 
Majesty, . . . Canada, with all its dependencies, as well as 
the Island of Cape Breton. . . . [It] is agreed, that, for the 
future, the confines between the dominions of his Britannic 
INIajesty, and those of his most Christian Majesty, in that part 
of the world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along 
the middle of the river Mississippi, from its source to the 
river Iberville, and from thence, by a line drawn along the 
middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, 
to the sea. . . ." -* 

King George the Third: A Royal Proclamation concerning 
America (October 7, 1763). ". . . we have thought fit, . . . 
to erect the countries and islands, ceded . . . to us, . . . 
four distinct and separate governments, . . . Quebec, East 
Florida. West Florida, and Grenada. . . . We have also . . . 
thought fit to annex the islands of St. John and Cape Breton 
... to our government of Nova Scotia. We have also . . . 
annexed to our province of Georgia, all the lands lying between 
the river Attamaha [Altamaha] and St. Mary's. . . . And 
whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our interest, 
and the security of our colonies, that the several nations . . . 
of Indians . . . should not be molested or disturbed in the 
possession of such . . . territories as [have not been] pur- 
chased by us ... ; we do therefore . . . declare it to be our 
royal will and pleasure, for the present, ... to reserve under 
our sovereignty, . . . for the use of the said Indians, . . . 
all the land and territories lying to the westward of the 



23. Quoted in Gales & Seaton, Register of Congressional Debates, XIII, 
part 3, .Appendix, 226. 

24. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 262-263. 



138 AMERICAN HISTORY 

sources of the rivers which fall into the sea from the west and 
northwest [between Nova Scotia and East Florida] ; and we do 
hereby strictly forbid ... all our loving subjects from making 
any purchases or settlements ... of any of the lands above 
reserved, without our special leave and license for that pur- 
pose first obtained. . . ." -^ 

Edmund Burke: The Beginning of Pontiac's War (Extracts 
from the British Annual Register for 1763). ". . . our prin- 
cipal and most sanguine hope lay in that entire security, which 
our [colonial] establishments were to enjoy from all molesta- 
tion of the Indians, since French intrigues could no longer be 
employed to seduce, or French force to support them. Un- 
happily, however, we were disappointed in this expectation 
. . . ; and just at the time when we concluded the Indians to 
be entirely awed, and almost subjected by our power, they sud- 
denly fell upon the frontiers of our most valuable settlements, 
and upon all our out lying forts . . . with . . . savage fury. 
. . . When the Indian nations saw the French power, as it 
were, annihilated in North America, they began to imagine that 
they ought to have made greater and earlier efforts in their 
[French] favor . . . [as they] had not been for a long time so 
jealous of them as they were of us. . . . Our superiority in 
this war rendered our regard to this people still less, which 
had always been two little. Decorums . . . were neglected. 
. . . The Indians were further alarmed . . . [by] the situa- 
tion of the places of strength we had acquired ... in their 
country. . . . [A] report was spread amongst the Indians, 
that a scheme was formed for their entire extirpation . . . ; 
and the report of such a monstrous resolution had no small 
share in urging them to a renewal of hostilities. The Indians 
on the Ohio took the lead in this war. . . ." -^ 



25. Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 267-271. 

26. British .^nnual Register (London) for 1763, pp. 21-23. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 139 

2. ENGLISH COLONIAL EXPANSION DURING THE 
FRENCH-ENGLISH STRUGGLE 2t 

a. Beginning of Non-English Immigration: 

Proposals for Sending Frencli Protestants to Virginia (Colo- 
nel Wm. Byrd of Virginia to the Lords of Trade, 1698). 
"Whereas, His Majesty has been pleas'd to refer to your L'ps 
[Lordships] the care and Disposal of Considerable number of 
French and Vaudors Refugees that have had ye hard fortune 
to be driven out of their Country on account of their ReHgion, 
and some Proposals have been offered . . . for . . . send- 
ing 'em . . . betwixt Virginia and Carolina ... to Settle 
a New Colony there ; . . . I humbly conceive . . . that Terri- 
tory is upon no account so fit a Place for this small Colony as 
ye upper Parts of James River in Virg'a. ... So ... I 
hope your L'ps . . . will please to determine this matter in 
favour of Virginia. . . . "^ 

Colonel William Byrd: The State of the French Refugees 
(May 10-11, 1701). "The 10th of May ... I with Coll. Ran- 
dolph . . . &c., went up to the new settlements of ye french 
Refugees at ye Manakan Town. Wee visited about seventy of 
their hutts, being, most of them, very mean. . . . They have, 
all of y'm, some Garden . . . and . . . corne, but few of y'm 
had broke up their ground or wed [weeded] the same. . . . 
Indeed, they are very poor, . . . yet they seem very cheerful, 
and are as (fare as wee could learne) very healthy, all they seem 
to desire is y't [that] they might have Bread enough. . . ." -^ 

The Germans in Netv York (From a German Memorial to 
the Lords of Trade, 1720).. ". . . In the year 1709 . . . 
Palatines, & other Germans, being invited to come into Eng- 
land, about Four Thousand of them were sent into New York 
in America. . . . [They] were promised . . . forty acres 
of Land, & Five pounds sterling pr Head, besides . . . uten- 
sils & other necessaries, to Husbandry. . . . [But] afterwards 
they were removed on Lands belonging to Mr Livingstone 



27. Not including Acadia and Hudson's Bay Region, acquisitions resulting 
from the warfare treated of under Topic 1 of this section. 

28. Virginia Historical Society Collections, New Series, vol. V, 5-8. 

29. Virginia Historical Society Collections, New Series, vol. V, 42-44. 



140 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . where they Hved about two years. . . . [Then] they 
were constrained to purchase some . . . Land of the Indians 
. . . And having built small Houses . . . about one year 
after the said purchase some gentlemen of Albani . . . de- 
clared . . . that themselves having purchas'd the said country 
of the Schorie of the Gov'r of New York they would not per- 
mit them to live there, unless an agreement was also made with 
those of Albany. . . . Now in order that the Palatines may be 
preserved in the said Land of Schorie, which they have pur- 
chased of the Indians, or that they may be so settled in an ad- 
joining Tract of Land, . . . they have sent into England Three 
Persons ... to lay their case before His Maj'ty. . . ." ^° 

The Gentians in Pennsylvania (Benjamin Franklin to Peter 
Collinson, May 9, 1753). "I am perfectly of your mind, that 
measures of great temper are necessary with the Germans. . . . 
Those who come hither are generally the most stupid of their 
own nation, and ... it is almost impossible to remove any 
prejudices they may entertain. . . . Not being used to liberty, 
they know not how to make a modest use of it. . . . Few of 
their children in the country know English. ... In short, 
unless the stream of their importation could be turned from 
this to other colonies, . . . they will soon so outnumber us, 
tliat all the advantages we have, will, in my opinion, be not 
able to preserve our language, and even our government will 
become precarious. . . . Yet I am not for refusing to admit 
them entirely into our Colonies. All that seems to me neces- 
sary is, to distribute them more equally, mix them with the 
English, establish English schools. . . . [They] have their 
virtues. Their industry and frugality are exemplary. They are 
excellent husbandmen ; and contribute greatly to the improve- 
ment of a country." ^^ 

Coming of the Scotch-Irish (Thomas Lechmere, of Boston, 
to John Winthrop, Aug. 4, 1718). 'T am of opinion all the North 
of Ireland will be over here in a little time, here being a third 
vcssell with Irish familys come & 5 more, they say, expected; 
& if their report, as I this day heard, of the encouragem't given 



30. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., 553-554. 

31. J Sparks, Writings of Franklin, VII, 71-73. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 141 

to these be liked in Ireland, 20 ministers with their congrega- 
tions will come over in the Spring. I wish their coming so 
over do not prove fatall in the end." ^- 

b. Colonization of Georgia, 1732-1751: 

The Designs of the Trustees for Establisliing the Colony of 
Georgia in America (From a pamphlet of 1733, "A Brief Ac- 
count of the Establishment of Georgia"). "In America there 
are fertile lands sufficient to subsist all the useless Poor in Eng- 
land, and distressed Protestants in Europe. . . . His Majesty 
having taken into his consideration the miserable circumstances 
of many of his own poor subjects, ready to perish for want: 
as likewise the distresses of many poor foreigners, who would 
take refuge here from persecution ; and having a Princely re- 
gard to the great danger the southern frontiers of South Caro- 
lina are exposed to, . . . hath . . . been . . . pleased to 
grant a charter for incorporating a number of gentlemen by 
the name of Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia in 
America. . . . And his Majesty farther grants all his lands 
between the rivers Savannah and Altamaha, which he erects 
into a Province by the name of Georgia. ... At the desire 
of the Gentlemen, there are clauses in the Charter, restraining 
them and their successors from receiving any salary ... or 
profit . . . from this undertaking; and also from receiving 
any grant of lands within the said district. . . . There are 
farther clauses granting to the Trustees proper powers for 
establishing and governing the Colony, and liberty of con- 
science to all who shall settle there. ... By such a Colony, 
many families, who would otherwise starve, will be provided 
for, and made masters of houses and lands ; the people of Great 
Britain . . . will be relieved ; numbers of manufacturers will 
be here employed . . . ; and by giving refuge to the distressed 
Saltzburghers, and other persecuted Protestants, the power of 
Britain, as a reward for its hospitality, will be encreased by the 
addition of so many religious and industrious subjects. . . . ^^ 

Pat. Tailfer and otJiers: A Trne and Historical Narration 



32. Massachusetts Historical Collections, sixth series, vol. V, 387, note. 

33. Peter Force, Historical Collections, I, No. 2, pp. 4-6. 



142 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the Colony of Georgia (Pamphlet published at Charleston, 
S. C, 1741. ''Inhabitants of all sorts, Roman Catholicks only 
excepted, from all Parts of the World, were invited to possess 
this promised Land . . . ; the County was laid out as an 
Earthly Paradise. . . . No Wonder, then, that great Number 
of poor Subjects, who lay under a Cloud of Misfortunes, em- 
braced the Opportunity of once more tasting Liberty and Hap- 
piness; that Jews . . . flock'd over; that Germans . . . will- 
ingly joined in the Adventure. . . . But how much they were 
all disappointed, the Sequel will shew. The First Thing that 
was done, was the Circumscribing the Rights and Titles given 
by his Majesty, and making many other various Restrictions, 
Services and Conditions, impossible for any human Person to 
perform. . . . Secondly, He prohibited the Importation of 
Rum, under Pretence, that it was ... an Incentive to De- 
bauchery and Idleness : However . . . we were [thereby] cut 
ofif from . . . exporting our Timber ... to the Sugar Is- 
lands, Rum being the principal Return they make : . . . [and 
besides] the Experience of the Inhabitants of America, will 
prove the necessity of Qualifying Water with some Spirit. . . . 
The Third Thing . . . was ... to set out to each Free-holder 
. . . Lots of Fifty Acres . . . [without] regard ... to 
the Quality of the Ground. ... a Petition for the Use of 
Negroes, signed by about Seventeen of the better Sort of Peo- 
ple in Savannah ... set forth the great Disproportion betwixt 
the Maintenance and Cloathing of white Servants and Negroes 
. . . ; but no Regard was had to it. . . . Whilst we labour'd 
under those Difficulties . . . our Civil Liberties received a 
more terrible Shock : For, instead of such a free Government 
as we had Reason to expect, ... a Dictator . . . was 
appointed, . . . whose Will and Pleasure were the only Laws 
in Georgia. . . . And Now to make our Subjection the more 
compleat, a new kind of Tyranny was . . . imposed upon us ; 
for Mr. John Wesly who had come over ... as a Clergyman 
of the Church of England, soon discovered that his Aim was 
to enslave our Minds. ... At last all Persons of any Con- 
sideration came to look upon him as a Roman Catholick, . . . 
[for] he most unmercifully damned all Dissenters of whatever 
Denomination. . . . And at this time, of about Five Thousand 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 143 

Souls that had, at various Imbarkations, arrived in the Colony 
of Georgia, . . . scarce as many Hundreds remain . . . : 
And those make up the poor Remains of the miserable colony 
of Georgia ! . . ." ^* 

The Trustees of Georgia: An Account of the Progress of 
the Colony of Georgia (Pamphlet published at London in 1742). 
"In the year 1741, there was printed ... a Pamphlet entituled, 
A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia. 
. . . The . . . Narrative . . . [w^as] the . . . Offspring of 
. . . factious and turbulent Authors; being a mean low-witted 
Sneer, a malicious ill-natured Invective, ... an inconsistent, 
spiteful, false Narrative . . . ; a Narrative founded in Lies 
and Misrepresentation, projected and published by a few Per- 
sons of no Estate, and as little character, . . . sour'd in their 
Tempers, because not humor'd in their endeavours of sub- 
verting . . . the Constitution of a new settled Colony, . . . 
and . . . who were under a necessity of Banishing themselves 
.... for their seditious and rebellious Practices. . . . [For] 
the Military Strength of the Province ... it seemed necessary 
to Establish such Tenures of Lands as might most effectually 
preserve the Number of Planters . . . equal to the Number 
of Lots of Lands. . . . The Trustees were induced to prohibit 
the use of Negroes within Georgia . . . [because it] was im- 
possible that the Poor who should be sent from hence . . . 
could be able to purchase . . . them if they had them, . . . 
[and because] a White man . . . would be a Security to the 
Province, whereas the Negro would render that Security Pre- 
carious. . . . The Trustees prepared Forms of Government, 
agreable to the Powers given them by their Charter. . . . 
The Trustees endeavoured very early to secure the Friendship 
of the Indians . . . and a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce 
with them was settled. . . . The Trustees receiving frequent 
Informations from the Colony of the pernicious Effects of 
Drinking Rum and other Spirituous Liquors, . . . prepared an 
Act ... to prevent the Importation and Use of Rum and . . . 
endeavoured to supply the Stores with Strong Beer from Eng- 
land. . . . Having thus stated the . . . Progress therein, 



34. Peter Force, Historical Collections, I. No. 4, pp. 18-23, 29-30, 66-67. 



144 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . they submit the whole to the Wisdom of this Honourable 
House [of Lords], being' intirely disposed to follow any Direc- 
tions that shall flow from thence. . . ." ^^' 

Georgia a Royal Province (Report of the British Attorney 
General, December, 1751). ". . . .his Majesty was pleased by 
his Royal Charter, dated . . . 1732, to make, erect, and cre- 
ate the Colony of Georgia, and to . . . vest in . . . Trustees 
. . . powers of government over the said Colony . . . for 
the term of twenty-one years : and ... as the said term of 
government will expire . . . [in] 1753, they humbly pray that 
proper means may be soon provided for putting the government 
of the Colony on a more sure foundation than it is at present, 
. . . least so great a misfortune should happen as the imme- 
diate desertion and loss of this important Colony : And . . . 
the following Proposal was delivered by them . . . : viz. : 
' We . . . hereby signify that we are ready and willing to 
make an absolute surrender of all the powers, rights, and trusts 
vested in the said Trustees, . . . humbly recommending the 
rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the said Colony to 
his Majesty's most gracious protection." ^^ 

c. Westward Movement across the Mountains, 1730-1755: 

The Presbyterians in the Great Valley (Report of a Com- 
mittee of the Philadelphia Synod, 1738). "In May, 1738, . . . 
the Synod appointed a deputation to wait on the Governor [of 
Virginia] ... to procure the favor ... of the government 
of the province to the laying of a foundation of our interest in 
the back parts thereof, where considerable number of families 
of our persuasion are settling. . . . [The] Governor . . . 
replied : '. . . as I have always been inclined to favor the 
people who have lately removed from other provinces to settle 
on the western side of our great mountains, so you may be as- 
sured that no interruption shall be given to any minister . . . 
who shall come among them so they conform themselves to 



35. Peter Force, Historical Collections, I, No. V, pp. iiiiv, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16, 24. 

36. C. C. Jones, History of Georgia, I, 454. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 145 

the . . . Act of Toleration in England . . . and behave them- 
selves peaceably toward the government. . . ."^' 

Assembly of Virginia: Establishment of Counties zvest of 
the Blue Ridge Mountains (1738). "Whereas great numbers 
of people have settled themselves of late, upon the rivers . . . 
and branches ... on the north-west side of the Blue ridge 
of the [Alleghany] mountains, whereby the strength of this 
colony, and it's security upon the frontiers ... are like to be 
much increased and augmented: For giving encouragement to 
such as shall think fit to settle there, Be it enacted, . . . That 
all that territory . . . lying on the north west side of the top 
of said mountains, . . . be . . . erected into two distinct 
counties ... ; [one] to be called . . . Frederick, and [the 
other] . . . Augusta. . . . And for the better encouragement 
of aliens . . . who shall come to inhabit there, ... it shall 
... be lawful, for the governor ... to grant letters of 
naturalization . . . upon . . . their having taken such oaths 
appointed by act of parliament. . . . "' ^^ 

Assembly of Virginia: An Act to Encourage Westward 
Settlement (1752). "Whereas ... a considerable number 
of persons, as well of his majesty's natural born subjects, as 
foreign protestants, are willing to import themselves, with their 
families and effects, and settle upon the lands near the said 
waters, ... Be it therefore enacted, . . . That all . . . 
persons, being protestants, who shall hereafter settle and re- 
side on any lands ... to the westward of the ridge of moun- 
tains, that divides the rivers Roanoak. James, and Potomac, 
from the Mississippi. . . . shall be . . . exempted . . .from 
the payment of all public, county and parish levies, for the 
term of ten years. . . ." "'' 

Albany Congress of 1754: A Resolution in favor of estab- 
lishing Nezu Colonies zuest of the Alleghanies (One of several 
recommendations made to the King by the Colonial Congress 
at Albany just before the French and Indian War). "That 
the bounds of these Colonies which extend to the South Sea 



37. Minutes West N'irginia Historical and Antiquarian Society for 1900, 

p. 22. 

38. W. W. Henning, Statutes of Virginia, V, 78-80. 

39. W. W. Henning, Statutes of Virginia. VI, 258. 



146 AMERICAN HISTORY 

[the Pacific Ocean], be contracted and limited by the Alle- 
ghenny or Appalachian mountains, and that pleasures be taken 
for settling from time to time Colonies of His Maj[es]tys 
protestant subjects, westward of said Mountains. . . ."*° 

Ebenezer Hazard: A Scheme for the Settlement of a nezv 
Colony to the IVcstzvard of Pennsylvania (Extracts from a 
Memorial presented to the Connecticut legislature in 1755). 
"The Memorial of Ebenezer Hazard, of the City and Province 
of New- York, Bookseller and Stationer . . . : Humbly showeth, 
That Samuel Hazard, late of the City of Philadelphia, . . . 
Merchant, . . . actuated by motives truly benevolent, hu- 
mane, and patriotick, projected a scheme for the settlement of a 
new Colony to the Westward ... as follows, viz. : . . . 
That hiunble applications be made either to his Majesty or the 
General Assembly of Connecticut, or to both, as the case may 
require, for a grant of so much land as shall be necessary for 
the settlement of an ample Colony, to begin . . . one hundred 
miles Westward of . . . Pennsylvania, and thence to extend 
one hundred miles to the Westward of the River Mississippi ; 
and to be divided from Virginia and Carolina by the great 
chain of mountains. . . . That humble application be made 
. . . for a Charter to erect said Territory into a separate Gov- 
ernment. . . . That your Memorialist . . . hath already en- 
gaged three thousand five hundred and eight persons, able to 
bear arms, to remove to the said new Colony, on the footing 
of said scheme, and does not in the least doubt of being able 
to procure ten thousand if it takes effect. . . ." *^ 

3. COLONIAL CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 
1689-1763 

a. British Establishment of New Imperial Organ for Colonial 
Administration, 1696: 

King William the Third: Creation of the Board of Lords 
of Trade and Plantations (May 15, 1696). "Whereas We are 
extreamly desirous that the Trade of Our Kingdom of Eng- 



40. J. R. Brodhead, Documents relative to New York Colonial History, 
VI, 888. 

41. Peter Force, American Archives, fourth series, vol. I, 861, 863. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 147 

land, upon which the strength and riches thereof do in a great 
measure depend, should by all proper means be promoted and 
advanced ; . . . We . . . appoint . . . Our . . . Chancellor, 
. . . the President of Our Privy Council [and several others] 
to be Our Commissioners . . . for promoting the Trade of our 
Kingdome, and for Inspecting and Improving our Plantations 
in America and elsewhere. . . . And We do . . . authorize 
. . . you ... to examine into . . . the . . . condition of 
the general Trade of England . . . ; and to . . . examine 
what Trades are or may prove hurt full, or are or may be bene- 
ficiall to our Kingdom of England . . . ; And to consider by 
what means the severall usefull and profitable manufacturers 
in Our said Kingdom may be further improved. . . . And 
likewise to inform yourselves of the present condition of Our 
respective Plantations, as well with regard to the Administra- 
tion of the Government and Justice ... as in relation to 
. . . Commerce. . . . And also to inquire into . . . what 
Staples and Manufactures may be best encouraged there . . . ; 
And to finde out proper means of diverting them from such 
Trades [and manufactures as] may turn to the hurt of Our 
Kingdom of England. . . . And to examin and looke into the 
usuall Instructions given to the Governors, . . . and to see 
if any thing may be added, omitted, or changed therein to ad- 
vantage ; To take an Account yearly by way of Journal! of the 
Administration of Our Governors there, and to draw out what 
is proper to be observed and represented unto Us ; And as often 
as occasion shall require to consider of proper persons to be 
Governor or Deputy Governor, or to be of Our Council!, . . . 
or Secretarys. in Our respective Plantations. . . . And . . . 
to examin . . . Acts of the Assemblies . . . sent . . . 
hither for Our Approbation; And to . . . represent . . . the 
Usefulness or Mischief thereof to Our Crown, and to Our 
. . . Kingdom . . . ; And also to consider what matters may 
be recommended as fitt to be passed in the Assemblys there, 
To heare complaints of Oppressions and maleadministrations 
. . . ; And ... to execute or perform all other things nec- 
essary or proper. . . ." *^ 



42. J. R. Brodhead, Documents New York Colonial Hisiory, IV, 145-148. 



148 AMERICAN HISTORY 

King George the Second: Additional Instmctions in regard 
to the Lords of Trade (March 11, 1752). "It is . . . ordered 
that the said Lords Commissioners for Trade & Plantations 
do . . . present unto his Majesty . . . the names of all . . . 
Officers which have been, or may be, found necessary for the 
Administration of Justice and the Execution of Government 
there, excepting only such as are . . . appointed for the . . . 
Regulation of his Majesty's Customs . . . and such as are 
. . . under the . . . Authority of the Lords ... of the 
Admiralty . . . ; and . . . whereas it will tend to the bene- 
fit of the said Colonies, . . . ease and convenience, . . . and 
the greater regularity and dispatch of Business, if the corre- 
spondence be confined to and pass through, but one channel ; 
It is therefore . . . Ordered that . . . the Governors of 
. . . [the] Colonies . . . transmit any . . . matters relative 
to their Governments ... to the Lords Comm'rs for Trade 
& Plantations only. . . ." *^ 

b. Increased Parliamentary Regulation of Colonial Affairs: 

Nezv Restrictions on Colonial Trade (Parliamentary Acts 
of 1696-1733). 

Navigation Act of 1696. ". . . And for the more effec- 
tual preventing Frauds ... in the Plantation Trade in Amer- 
ica Bee it further enacted . . . That all Shipps comeing into 
or goeing out of any of the said Plantations . . . shall bee 
subject ... to the same Rules, Visitations, Searches, Penalties 
and Forfeitures . . . as . . . Shipps are subject . . . unto 
in this Kingdome. . . . And ... all Lawes or Customes 
... in practice ... in any of the said Plantations . . . re- 
pugnant ... to this present Act or to any other [English] 
Law . . . are illegall null and void. . . . And for the better 
executing the severall Acts of Parliament . . . the Commis- 
sioners ... in England . . . shall . . . appoint such and 
soe many Officers of the Customes in any City Towne River 
Port Harbour or Creeke [of the Colonies] . . . as . . . shall 
seeme needfull. . . . And . . . noe Shipp . . . shall be 
deemed . . . Built of England . . . or . . . [the] Plantations 



43. J. R. Brodhcad, Documents, N. Y., etc., VI, 757-7S9 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 149 

in America . . . untill the [owner] . . . shall register the 
same . . . [with] the Collector ... of His Majesties Cus- 
tomes . . . [or] the Governour, together with the Principall 
Officer of His Majesties Revenue residcing on such Planta- 
tion. . . ." ^* 

Edmund Burke.- The Sugar Act of 1733. ". . . our [West 
Indian] sugar colonies complain, . . . that the vast trade which 
New England drives in lumber, live stock, and provisions, with 
the French and Dutch [West Indian] sugar Islands, . . . 
enables these islands . . . greatly to undersell the English 
[West Indian sugar colonies], . . . That, the returns which 
the people of New England make from these islands being in 
sugar . . . and molasses, the rum which is there distilled pre- 
vents the sale of our West-India rum. That this trade . . . 
enables the French to sell their sugars cheaper than they could 
otherwise afford to do. . . . These considerations were the 
ground of a complaint made by the [English West-Indian] 
islands to the legislature in England some years ago. They 
desired that the exportation of lumber, &c., to the French col- 
onies, and the importation of sugar and molasses from thence, 
might be entirely prohibited. This was undoubtedly a very 
nice point to settle. On the one hand, the growth of the 
French West-Indies was manifest and alarming. . . . On the 
other hand, the Northern colonies declared, that, if they were 
deprived of so great a branch of their trade, it must necessitate 
them to the establishment of manufactures. . . . Besides this, 
the French, deprived of the provision and lumber of New 
England, must of necessity take every measure to be supplied 
from their own colonies, which would answer their purposes 
better, if they could accomplish it, at the same time that it 
would deprive the New England people of a large and profitable 
branch of their trade. . . . The legislature [ Parliament [ took 
a middle course. They did not entirely prohibit the carrying 
of lumber to the French island; but they laid a considerable 
duty upon whatever rum, sugar, or molasses they should import 
from thence ; to enhance by this means the price of lumber 
and other necessaries to the French ; and, by laying them under 



4-4 VVm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 213-217. 



150 AMERICAN HISTORY 

difificulties, to set the English sugar plantations, in some meas- 
ure, upon an equal footing with theirs." *^^ 

Restraints on Competing Colonial Manufactures (ParHa- 
mentary Acts of 1699-1750). 

Woolens Act, 1699. — "And for the more effectual encour- 
agement of the woolen manufacture of this kingdom . . . 
no . . . Woolen manufacturers whatsoever ... of the 
. . . manufacture of any of the English plantations in America 
. . . shall be . . . exported . . . out of the said plantations 
to any . . . place whatsoever. . . ." 

Hat Act, 1732. — "Whereas the art and mystery of making 
hats in Great Britain hath arrived to great perfection, and 
considerable quantities . . . have heretofore been exported to 
. . . America . . . ; and whereas great quantities of hats 
have of late years been made, and the said manufacture is daily 
increasing in the British plantations in America, and is from 
thence exported to foreign markets, which were heretofore 
supplied from Great Britain, and the hat-makers in the said 
plantations take many apprentices for very small terms, to the 
discouragement of the said trade, and debasing the said manu- 
facture ; wherefore ... be it enacted, . . . That ... no 
hats . . . shall be shipt . . . out of any of the said British 
plantations to any other of the British plantations, or to any 
place whatsoever. . . . And ... no person ... in America 
shall . . . make . . . any . . . hat, . . . unless he shall 
have first served as an apprentice in . . . felt-making . . . 
[for] seven years at the least . . . ; nor shall any . . . hat- 
maker . . . keep above . . . two apprentices at one time. . . ." 

Iron Act, 1750. — "Whereas the importation of bar iron from 
his Majesty's colonies in America, . . . and the manufacture 
of such ... in Great Britain, will be a great advantage not 
only to the said colonies, but also to this kingdom . . . ; be it 
therefore enacted, . . . That . . . no . . . duty . . . shall 
be payable upon bar iron . . . imported from the said colonies 
. . . ; [and] no mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of 
iron, or any plateing-forge, ... or any furnace for making 



45. Edmund Burke, An Account of the European Settlements in America 
(London, 1770), II, 177-179. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 151 

steel, shall be erected, or . . . continued, in any of his 
Majesty's colonies in America. . . ." *^ 

Encouragement of Non-Competing Colonial Industries 
(Three out of nearly a dozen Parliamentary Acts of this sort). 

Supplies for the English Navy, 1704 (continued and fre- 
quently enlarged thereafter) . — "Whereas the royal navy . . . 
depends on the due supply of stores necessary for the same, 
. . . now brought in mostly from foreign ports . . . ; and 
whereas her Majesty's colonies ... in America . . . may 
commodiously afford great quantities of all sorts of naval 
stores . . . ; be it therefore enacted, . . . That every person 
that shall . . . import . . . into this kingdom, directly from 
any of her Majesty's English colonies ... in America . . . 
any of the naval stores, hereafter mentioned, shall have . . . 
as a reward or pr?emium for such importation . . . rates . . . 
as follows. . . ." 

Rice, 1730. — Whereas . . .it is reasonable to expect, that . . . 
the produce . . . [and] exportation thereof [of rice] would 
be greatly increased . . . if . . . liberty . . . were granted 
... to carry the same directly to Europe . . . without bring- 
ing the same first to Great Britain, as the . . . laws now re- 
quire, ... be it enacted, . . . That . . . rice . . . shall 
be permitted . . . to be exported from . . . Carolina . . . 
to such foreign countries and places. . . ." 

Indigo, 1748. — "Whereas the making of indico in the Brit- 
ish plantations in America would be advantageous to the trade 
of this nation . . . ; be it therefore enacted, . . . That . . . 
every person . . . who shall import . . . into this kingdom, 
directly from any of the British colonies ... in America, 
. . . any good and merchantable indico, . . . shall have . . . 
a reward or Prsemium ... of sixpence for every pound. . . ." *^ 

Parliamentary Legislation along Neiv Lines (1707-1751). 
Regulation of Colonial Coinage, 1707. — "Whereas for rem- 
edying the inconveniencies which had arisen from the different 



46. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, X, 256; XVI, 304-308; XX, 
99-100. 

47. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XI, 109; XVI. 183; XIX, 
250-251. 



152 AMERICAN HISTORY 

rates at which the same species of foreign silver coins did pass 
in her Majesty's several colonies ... in America, her . . . 
Majesty has thought fit by her royal proclamation ... to 
settle . . the currency of foreign coins in her said colonies, 
... be it enacted, . . . That if any person . . . take, or 
pay any of the several species of foreign silver coins mentioned 
in the . . . proclamation, at any greater or higher rate, . . . 
[he] shall suffer six months imprisonment . . . and . . . 
forfeit . . . ten pounds for every such offence. ..." 

Post Office Act, 1710. — "whereas . . . posts have . . . 
been established by packet boats between . . . England and 
. . . the main land in North America, . . . and whereas . . . 
new rates may . . . enable your Majesty to carry on and 
finish the present war, . . . therefore ... be it enacted, . . . 
That ... a general post office ... be estabHshed for and 
throughout . . . Great Britain and Ireland, . . . [the] colo- 
nies and plantations in North America, and the West Indies, 
and . . . the revenue arising . . . secured to her Majesty. . . . 
And ... in order to raise a present supply of money, . . . 
[a] weekly sum of seven hundred pounds . . . out of ajl the 
. . . revenues . . . arising by virtue of this act, shall be 
. . . paid . . . into the . . . Exchequer. . . . And . . . 
one third part of the surplus of the yearly produce arising by 
the said . . . duties upon postage of letters and packets . . . 
shall be . . . reserved to the disposal of parliament for the 
use of the publick. . . ." 

Debt-recovery Act. 1732. — "Whereas his Majesty's subjects 
trading to the British plantations in America lie under very 
great difficulties, for want of more easy methods of proving, 
recovering, and levying of debts due them . . . ; be it enacted, 
. . . That ... it shall ... be lawful ... to verify or 
prove any matter ... by affidavit ... in writing upon oath, 
. . . made before any mayor ... of the city ... in Great 
Britain, . . . near to which the person making such affidavit 
. . . shall reside. . . . And . . . the houses, lands, negroes 
[etc.] . . . belonging to any person indebted, shall be liable 
to and chargeable with all just debts . . . owing by any such 
person. . . ." 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 153 

Naturalization Law, 1740. — "Whereas . . . many foreigners 
. . . might be induced to come and settle in some of his 
Majesty's colonies in America, if they were partakers of the 
advantages and privileges which the natural born subjects of 
this realm do enjoy; be it therefore enacted, . . . That . . . 
all persons born out of the ligeance of his Majesty, . . . 
who have inhabited or resided, or shall inhabit or reside, for 
the space of seven years or more, in any of his Majesty's 
colonies in America, . . . and shall take and subscribe the 
oaths . . . [and] declaration appointed, . . . shall be deemed 
... to be his Majesty's natural born subjects ... to all 
intents, constructions, and purposes, as if they . . . had been 
. . . born within this kingdom. . ..." 

Land-Bank Act, 1741. — "Whereas . . . persons have pre- 
sumed to publish in America a scheme for supplying a pre- 
tended want of medium in trade, by setting up a bank on land 
security, the stock of such bank to be raised by publick subscrip- 
tions . . . ; and sundry other schemes, societies, partnerships 
or companies, have been and may be set on foot in America, 
for the purpose of raising publick stocks or banks, and unlaw- 
fully issuing large quantities of notes or bills there . . . ; for 
remedy whereof, . . . be it . . . enacted, . . . That the 
said undertakings, attempts, matters and things . . . shall be 
deemed to be illegal and void in his Majesty's dominions, colo- 
nies and plantations in America, . . . and shall not there be 
practiced, or in any wise put in execution. . . ." 

Paper Money Act, 1751. — "Whereas the act of parliament 
. . . for ascertaining the rate of foreign coins in . . . Amer- 
ica, hath been entirely frustrated ... by their creating and 
issuing . . . great quantities of paper bills of credit . . . and 
making legal the tender of such bills of credit in payment for 
debts . . . ; which bills of credit have, for many years past, 
been depreciating in their value, by means whereof all debts 
of late years have been paid . . . with a much less value than 
was contracted for, which hath been a great discouragement 
... to the trade and commerce . . . ; therefore ... be it 
enacted, . . . That ... it shall not be lawful for the gov- 
ernor, council or assembly . . . within . . . any of the . . . 
colonies ... to make . . . any act . . . whereby any paper 



154 AMERICAN HISTORY 

bills or bills of credit . . . shall be . . . issued . . . That all such 
... as are now subsisting . . . shall be . . . called in. . . . 
That ... no paper currency, or bills of credit, . . . shall 
be a legal tender in payment of any private . . . debts. . . ."*^ 

c. British Endeavors to Reduce Colonies to One Uniform Type 
('* Royal Colony "): 

Report of Lords of Trade to tJic House of Commons (Mar. 
27, 1701). "VVe have on many occasions represented to his 
majesty . . . the state of such plantations in America as are 
under the government of proprietors and charters, and hovj 
inconsistent such governments are with the trade and welfare 
of this kingdom. . . . To . . . introduce such administration 
of government ... as may make them duly subservient and 
useful to England, ... [it is] our opinion that the char- 
ters of the several proprietors and other [s] . . . should 
be resumed to the crown, and these colonies put into the same 
state of dependency as those of his majesty's other planta- 
tions. . . ." *•' 

Report of Lords of Trade to the King (Sept. 8, 1721). 
"The Laws & constitution of your Majesty's Colonies . . . 
might be rendered still more perfect, if your Majesty's Com- 
mands met with due obedience in the proprietary & Charter 
Governments. This is the great obstacle, which has hitherto 
made it impracticable to put the plantations in general upon a 
better foot ; . . . [they] have broken through the laws of 
trade & navigation ; made laws of their own, contrary to those 
of Great Britain ; given shelter to pirates & outlaws, & refuse 
to contribute to the defence of the Neighbouring Colonies un- 
der Your Majesty's immediate Government. ... It might 
likewise be further observed, . . . that some of the Proprie- 
tary and charter Governments have shewn too great an incli- 
nation to be independent of their Mother kingdom, & have car- 
ried on a trade destructive to that of Great Britain, wherein 
they might undoubtedly be more effectively restrained, if they 



48. D, Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XI, 412-414; XII, 115-138; 
XVI, 272-274; XVII, 370-373, 459-463. 

49. Edw. Armstrong, Penn-Logan Correspondence (Memoirs Pa. Hist. Soc, 
IX), I. 379-380. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 155 

were all of them under your Majesty's immediate govern- 
ment. . . ."SO 

Jeremiah Dummer: A Defence of the New England Char- 
ters (A pamphlet published in London in 1721 by the Massa- 
chusetts agent in England). "If this [attack] be aim'd at the 
Proprietary Governments, w^hich however I don't accuse, I have 
nothing to say, but am sure that the Charter Governments stand 
clear of it. . . . The Charter Governments are celebrated for 
their excellent Laws and mild Administration ; for the Security 
of Liberty and Property ; for the Encouragement of Vertue, and 
Suppression of Vice ; for the promoting Letters, by erecting 
Free-Schools and Colleges; and in one Word, for every Thing 
that can make a People happy and prosperous. ... I may 
say without being ludicrous, that it would not be more absurd 
to place two of His Majesty's Beef-Eaters to watch an Infant 
in the Cradle that it don't rise and cut its Father's Throat, than 
to guard these weak Infant Colonies to prevent their shaking 
of the British Yoke. Besides, they are so distinct from one an- 
other in their Forms of Government [etc.] . . . that they can 
never be suppos'd to unite in so dangerous an Enterprise. . . . 
I really think it would be for the Service of the Crown and 
Nation to incorporate those Governments which have no Char- 
ters, rather than Disfranchise those that have. . . ." °^ 

Edmund Burke: The Change from Charter and Proprietary 
to Royal Colonies (From his "European Settlements in Amer- 
ica," London, 1770). "This is the common form of government, 
and the best too that is in use in the plantations. This is the 
manner of government in . . . one province in New England 
[New Hampshire], and, with some restriction, in another 
[Massachusetts] ; in New York, New Jersey. Virginia, the two 
Carolinas, and Georgia. This form is commonly called a royal 
government. The second form in use ... is called a proprie- 
tary government. We had formerly many more governments 
of that sort, than we have at present. . . . The only [ones] 
which remain, . . . [and they] considerably abridged of their 
privileges, are Pennsilvania and Maryland. . . . The third 



50. J. R. Brodhead, Documents New York Colonial History, V, 627-628. 

51. A. B. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, II. 133-137. 



156 AMERICAN HISTORY 

form is called a charter government ; this originally prevailed 
in all the provinces of New England ; and still remains in two 
of them, Connecticut and Rhode Island. . . . By the charters, 
. . the exorbitant power, . . . given in the proprietary gov- 
ernments to single men, was here vested, and I apprehend much 
more dangerously, in the whole body of the people. It is to all 
purposes a mere democracy, . . . [and] certainly contributed 
. . . much to render their value to their mother country . . . 
precarious. . . . The province of Massachusetts Bay ... is 
partly a government of this popular kind, but tempered with 
something more of the royal authority. . . ." "- 

d. British Attempts to Bring about Colonial Union: 

Report of Lords of Trade to the King (Feb. 25, 1697). 
"The importance and advantages of an Union for mutual de- 
fence and common security are by all sides agreed upon ; but 
the objections against the methods proposed . . . are various. 
The proposition ... is that the person whom your Majesty 
shall be pleased to send Governour of the Massachusetts 
Colony may also be the Civil Governour of New York and New 
Hampshire and Generall of all the Forces of the Massachusetts 
New York and New Hampshire Connecticutt Rhode Island 
and the Jerseys. But to this . . . Connecticut . . . has ob- 
jected, that the imposing even a Military Governor over them 
. . . will be . . . contrary to their charter. . . . [The] dis- 
tinct Proprieties, Charters, and different forms of Government 
in . . . neighbouring Colonies, make all other Union, except 
under such a military Head ... at present impracticable. . . ."^^ 

Perm's " Brief e and Plaine Scheam " of Colonial Union 
(1697). "That the severall Colonies . . . meet once a year 
... by their . . . appointed Deputies . . . two . . . [from] 
each Province. . . . That the King's Commissioner for that 
purpose specially appointed shall have the Chaire and preside 
in the said Cons^resse. . . . That their business shall be to hear 



52. An Account of the European Settlements in America (London, 1770), 
I], 296-302. 

53. J. R. Brodhead, Documents New York Colonial History, IV, 259-260. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 157 

and adjust all matters of Complaint or Difference between 
Province and Province. . . . " "*. 

Lords of Trade to the Governor of Nezv York (July 9_, 
1723). ". . . It is certain that nothing can make British 
interest in America more formidable to their Neighbours than a 
perfect Union among themselves. . . ." ''^ 

Governor Shirley of Nezv York to Secretary Robinson of 
London (Feb. 4, 1755, after the failure of the Albany attempt 
ar union). "This behaviour [the failure of various colonies 
to respond to calls for troops] seems to shew the necessity not 
only of a Parliamentary LTnion, but taxation. . . ." ^^ 

e. British Proposal of an Episcopal Bishopric for the Colonies: 

Observation of the Bishop of London (December, 1707). 
"The present disorders now arising in some of ye Plantations, 
and likely to increase to an entire discouragement of the [Epis- 
copal] Clergy there already Established, doe, I presume, fully 
convince the necessity of having a Bishop Established in those 
parts. The only question therefore is, what sort of Bishop will 
be most proper first to settle there. . . . An Absolute Bishop 
. . . will give a great alarm to the several colonies. . . . 
[The] beginning of any new Establishment ought to be carried 
on gradually, which will make all steps easier and in case 
of disappointment the matter will not be so grievous." ^^ 

Rev. Samuel Johnson to Bishop Seeker (New England, Oct. 
25, 1754). "I now almost despair. . . . I . . . fear the age 
is growing worse and worse so fast, that the Freethinkers & 
Dissenters . . . will never drop their virulence and activity 
. . . till they . . . raze the very Constitution to the founda- 
tion, both in Ch[urc]h and State. — It is a sad omen that . . . 
the [Episcopal] Church . . . cannot be heard in so reasonable 
and necessary a Thing . . . [as] to be upon a par here with her 
neighbours, in having . . . her own institutions as well as 
they. Is it then come to this, My Lord, that she must ask the 



54. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., IV, 296-297. 

55. Same. V, 698. 

56. Same, VI, 940. 

57. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y.. etc., V, 29-30. 



158 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Dissenters leave whether she may be allowed to send so much 
as one bishop ... to take care of all her numerous children, 
scattered over so vast a tract of the English dominions? — If 
these dissenting Governments in New England, who scarcely 
tolerate the [Episcopal] Church, must be indulged, yet why 
may not one be allowed to be sent to N. York or Maryland, or 
Virginia or South Carolina, in which Colonies the [Episcopal] 
Church is established by Law ? . . ." "'^ 

Rev. Samuel Johnson to Archbishop Scchcr (Stratford, 
Conn., Dec. 20, 1763). "I fear ... we must, after all our 
hopes, loose the present juncture . . . for gaining the point 
we have long had so much at heart. . . . — Is there then noth- 
ing more that can be done, either for obtaining Bishops, or 
demolishing these pernicious charter Governments, and redu- 
cing them all to one form, in immediate dependence on the 
King? I can't help calling them pernicious, for they are in- 
deed so, as well to the best good of the people themselves, as 
to the interest of true Religion. . . ." ^^ 

i. Growing Assertion of Colonial " Rights ": 

Conflicts betzveen Royal Governors and Colonial Assemblies 
(Extracts from correspondence of New York Governors, 
1703-1747). 

June 16, 1703. ". . . the Government of New England . . . 
hath a great influence on all Her Majesty's Governments in 
America in most of which I can assure your Lordshipps that 
Commonwealth notion and principle is too much improved with- 
in these few years. The people are uneasy that . . . New 
England and the Propriety Governments should enjoy more 
Priviledges . . . than they do. This puts them upon inquiry, 
projects and trials of skill with their several Governors in hopes 
to gain the same priviledges. . . . This growing evil requires 
speedy applycation. ..." 

Nov. 22, 1729. "Attorney-General Bradley's Representation 
. . . Relating to Assemblys in the Plantations aiming at an 
independancy of the Crown. . . . [The] steps, which a de- 



58. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., VI, 912-913. 

59. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., VII, 591-592. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 159 

pendant province can take to render themselves independant 
. . . are taken ... 1. They [the AssembHes] have long 
struggled for, and at last gained their point . . . that the 
Salarys of all Officers of the Crown, should be such 
as they pleased to vote them. . . . The consequence whereof 
is, that as the bread of these Officers depends on the Assembly, 
so the officers themselves must of course do, and if this be suf- 
fered, here will in a little time be no one to oppose any 
steps the Assembly may think fit to take towards an independ- 
ancy. 2. They have threatened with expulsion . . . any of 
their own Members, that should disclose the secrets of their 
house. ... 6. The Assembly of late will never pass any money 
Bill, unless some injurious Bill to his Majesty's prerogative 
and interest be passed at the same time. ... 8. ... Some 
Officers of the Crown . . . have been . . . most grossly 
and shamefully abused, by such as are of the Assembly's Mobb 
or party. . . . \\'hile Assemblys dare act thus, and seem to have 
it in their power to obtain what laws they please, how can his 
Majestys interest be secure in so remote a Country. ..." 

Oct. 26, 1732. "... I doe assure your Grace [power] 
is greatly wanting to Governers in these parts, for ye Secretarys 
and their Deputies think themselves intirely independent of 
ye Governers and allmost act accordingly which is a very great 
hindrance to ye King's affairs, ... ye example and spirit of 
the Boston people begins to spread amongst these Colonys In a 
most prodigious manner. . . ." ' 

Nov. 30, 1747. "... I must observe once more to Your 
Lord[shi]pps that Popular Faction and Power are become so 
very prevalent, not only in this, but in all the Northern Colonys, 
that unless some extraordinary assistance be given to his Ma- 
j[es]tys Governours, I am humbly of opinion it will not be in 
their power to support His Majesty's authority. . . ." ^^ 

Editor Peter Zcnger of New York : A Conflict over the Right 
of Freedom of Speech (Zenger's account of his own trial in 
1734 for "libel" against Royal officials). "'[The] Attorney 
General of . . . New York . . . [charges]. That John Peter 



60. J. R. Brodhead, Documents N. Y., etc., IV, 1049; V. 901-903, 937; 
VI. 413. 



160 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Zenger ... of the City of New- York, Printer, . . . printed 
... a certain false, malicious, seditious, scandalous Libel . . . 
[in] The New-York Weekly Journal, ... in which [he said] 
". . . the People of this City and Province . . . think . . . 
tlieir Liberties and Properties are precarious, and that Slavery 
is like to be intailed on them and their Posterity. . . . [They] 
see . . . judges arbitrarily displaced, [and] new courts erected 
without consent of the Legislature, ... by which it seems 
. . . tryals by juries are taken away when a Governor pleases." 
. . . To the great Disturbance of the Peace . . . [and] to 
the Great Scandal ... of His Excellency the said Governor. 
. . . Whereupon the said Attorney General . . . prays . . - 
the due process of the Law, against him the said John Peter 
Zenger. . . .' 

To this Information the Defendant . . . pleaded Not 
Guilty. . . . Then Mr. Hamilton . . . spoke . . . [']I can- 
not think it proper ... to deny the Publication of Complaint, 
Vv^hich I think is the Right of every free-born Subject to 
make, when the Matters so published can be supported with 
Truth. . . .['] 

Mr. Ch. Justice, [']You cannot be admitted, Mr. Ham- 
ilton, to give the Truth of a Libel in Evidence . . . ; for it is 
nevertheless a Libel that [i.e., even if] it is true.['] 

Mr. Hamilton, [']... Gentlemen of the Jury, ... in 
times past it was a Crime to speak Truth, and in that terrible 
Court of Star-Chamber, many worthy and brave Men suffered 
for so doing; and yet even in that Court ... a great and good 
Man durst say, . . . [that] the Practice of Informations for 
Libels is a Sword in the Hands of . . . an arrand Coward 
to cut down and destroy the innocent ; . . . notwithstanding 
all the Duty and Reverence claimed to Men in Authority, they 
are not exempt from observing the Rules of common Justice, 
either in their private or publick Capacities. . . . But . . . the 
Question before . . • . you, ... is not the cause of a poor 
Printer . . . ; No ! . . . It is the Cause of Liberty ; and . . . 
every Man, who prefers Freedom to a Life of Slavery, will 
bless and honour You, as Men who have baffled the Attempt of 
Tyranny; and . . . have given us a Right both of exposing 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 161 

and opposing arbitrary power ... by speaking and writing 
Truth. . . .['] 

Mr. Ch. Just. ['J Gentlemen of the Jury. The great Pains 
Mr. Hamilton has taken, to shew how little Regards Juries 
are to Pay to the Opinion of the Judges ... is done, no doubt, 
with a Design that you should take but very little Notice of 
what I may say. ... I shall trouble you no further with any 
Thing more of my own, but read to you the Words of a learned 
and upright Judge in a Case of the like Nature. ". . .If 
people should not be called to account for possessing the People 
with an ill Opinion of the Government, no Government can sub- 
sist. For it is necessary for all Governments that the People 
should have a good Opinion of it. . . . Now you are to Con- 
sider whether these words ... do not tend to beget an ill 
Opinion of the Administration of the Government. . . ."['] . . . 

The Jury withdrew, and in a small Time returned, and be- 
ing asked by the Clerk, . . . they answered . . . Not Guilty. 
LTpon which there were three Huzzas in the Hall which was 
crowded with People, and the next Day I was discharged from 
my Imprisonment." '^^ 

Jolm Adams: James Otis' Declaration of Colonial Constitu- 
tional Rights (Extract from Adams' account of Otis' speech at 
Boston, February, 1761, against the British use of a "general 
writ of assistance" in search for smuggled goods). "Mr. Otis 
appeared for the inhabitants of Boston. . . . [']May it please 
your honors — I was desired ... to look into the books, and 
consider the question . . . concerning writs of assistance ; I 
have accordingly considered it, and now appear ... in behalf 
of the inhabitants of this town . . . and out of regard to the 
liberties of the [British] subject. ... I will to my dying day 
oppose with all the powers and faculties God has given me, 
all such instruments of slavery. ... It appears to me the 
worst instrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of 
English liberty, . . . that ever was found in an English law- 
book. ... I argue this cause . . . with the greater pleasure 
as it is in favor of British liberty, . . . and as it is in oppo- 
sition to a kind of power, the exercise of which in former 



61. A. B. Hart, Contemporaries, II, 192-199. 



162 AMERICAN HISTORY 

periods of English history cost one king of England his head 
and another his throne. . . . Not more than one instance can 
be found of it [i.e,. of the "general writ"] in all our law books. 
. . . But if this writ had been in any book whatever, it would 
have been illegal ; all precedents are under the controll of the 
principles of law — ... no acts of parliament can establish 
such a writ. . . . An act against the constitution is void. . . ."**- 
Rev. James Maury: Patrick Henry's Attack upon the King's 
Veto Pozvcr (Extracts from a letter of Dec. 12, 1763, by 
Maury, giving an account of the "Parson's Cause" in which 
Henry denied the right of the King to veto the act of a Colonial 
legislature). "Mr. Henry, . . . who had been called in by the 
Defendants, . . . rose and harangued the jury for near an hour. 
This harangue turned upon points as much out of his own 
depth ... as they were foreign from the purpose [of the 
trial]. . . . [He] labored to prove 'that the act of 1758 [by 
the Virginia assembly, allowing salaries of clergy to be paid 
in either tobacco or money] hacf every characteristic of a good 
law; that it was a law of general utility, and could not, consist- 
ently with what he called the original compact between King 
and people, stipulating protection on the one hand and obe- 
dience on the other be annulled.' Hence, he inferred, ' that a 
King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being 
the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant, and for- 
feits all right to his subjects' obedience.' . . . And then he 
perorates to the following purpose, 'that excepting they (the 
jury) were disposed to rivet the chains of bondage on their own 
necks, he hoped they would not let slip the opportunity ... of 
making such an example ... as might, hereafter, be a warning 
. . . not to . . . dispute the validity of such laws, authenti- 
cated by the only authority, which, in his conception, could 
give force to laws for the government of this Colony. . . .' 
When he came to that part of it where he undertook to assert, 
'that a King . . . forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience;' 
. . . [there] was a confused murmur of Treason, Treason ! 
Yet Mr. Henry went on in the same treasonable . . . strain, 
without interruption from the Bench. . . . One of the jury. 



62. Niles Weekly Register (Baltimore), XIV (Apr. 25,' 1818), 138-139. 



THE MAKING OF COLONIAL AMERICA 163 

too, was so highly pleased with these doctrines, that ... he 
every now and then gave the traitorous declaimer a nod of ap- 
probation. After the Court was adjourned, he [Henry] apolo- 
gised to me for what he had said, alleging that his sole view 
. . . was to render himself popular. You see, then, it is so 
clear a point in this person's opinion, that the ready road to 
popularity here, is, to trample under foot . . . the prerogative 
of the Crown. If this be not pleading for the 'assumption of a 
power to bind the King's hands,' if it be not asserting 'such 
supremacy in provincial Legislatures ' as . . . manifestly 
tends to draw the people of these plantations from their alle- 
giance to the King, tell me, my dear sir, what is so. . . ." *^^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What was the object of the European struggle be- 
gun in 1689 between France and England? (2) What was the 
object of the American warfare begun at the same time between 
the colonies of France and England? (3) Which of the first 
three French-English conflicts produced any territorial results 
in America? (4) What was the region over which the French 
and Indian War began? (5) What was the chief purpose of 
the Albany Congress of 1754? (6) What other important thing 
did it do? (7) Why was its plan of colonial union rejected by 
the colonies? by England? (8) Against what points did the 
English strike in 1755-1756? (9) What success against each? 
(10) When did English success begin, and marked by what 
victories? (11) In the peace of 1762-1763, what became of 
French Canada? of French Louisiana? of Spanish Florida? 
of New Orleans? (12) How did the Indians accept English 
victory over the French? (13) What was done with the terri- 
tories won from the French by the English ? ( 14) What three 
types of immigrants came to America in large numbers between 
1700 and 1763, and to which of the colonies did they come? 

(15) What was the chief purpose in the founding of Georgia? 

(16) Over what matters did disputes arise during the early 
history of Georgia? (17) Into wdiat portion of the trans-moun- 
tain west did English population first penetrate? (18) Of 
what racial elements was this first " westward movement " 
chiefly composed? (19) What were the important duties of the 
Lords of Trade as created in 1696? (20) What do you think 
the increased amount of Parliamentary legislation of this pe- 
riod indicates? (21) Why did England want to change the 

63. A. B. Hart, American History told by Contemporaries, II, 105-106. 



164 AMERICAN HISTORY 

charter and proprietary colonies into "royal" colonies? (22) 
What kind of colonial union was proposed by Great Britain? 
(23) Where was greatest objection found to the establishment 
of an Episcopalian Bishop in America? (24) Why did Colonial 
Assemblies wish to control the salaries of royal officials in the 
Colonies? (25) Why did the colonists object to the limitation 
of their "right of free speech"? (26) What kind of a colonial 
"right" did Otis say the general writ of assistance violated ? 
(27) On what ground did Henry deny the right of the King to 
veto colonial legislation ? 

II. (1) Color two outline maps of the United States to show 
French, Spanish, and English possessions before and after the 
French and Indian War. (2) Trace the steps in the French- 
English attempts to get possession of the Ohio valley between 
1748 and 1754. (3) Compare the motives for colonization in 
Virginia, Massachusetts, and Georgia. (4) Discuss "Immigra- 
tion into the Colonies before and after 1700." (5) What pur- 
pose on the part of England do you think the extracts in the 
last portion of this section indicate? (6) What attitude on the 
part of the colonists in regard to the same? (7) Do you find 
anything in these extracts that seems to foretell conflict between 
Colonies and Mother Country ? 

III. (1) What were the names of the three European wars 
corresponding to King William's, Queen Anne's, and King 
George's wars in America? (2) Compare the characteristics 
of French and English colonies about 1754. (3) What effect 
or effects upon the future of America did the English victory 
of 1763 have? (4) Find the names of three great Americans 
who were of Scotch-Irish ancestry? (5) What were the organs 
of Imperial administration before the establishment of the 
Lords of Trade in 1696? (6) Were English restraints on 
colonial trade and manufactures according to or contrary to the 
commonly accepted economic theories of that time? (7) Make 
a list of all the officials in England and the Colonies who repre- 
sented British authority in Colonial administration. 

Text-Book References. — Adams & Trent, 69-86; Ashley. 86, 
88-101 ;Channing (revision 1908). 110-120; Hart. 69-75,' 107- 
133; James & Sanford. 106-126, 128-129. 134-140; Macdonald's 
lohnston. 46-47, 62-63, 84-96; McLaughlin, 116-128, 129-150; 
McMaster. 57-58. 61-65, 77-91; Montgomery (revision 1905), 
57-62, 92-93, 97-98, 114-115, 128-154; Thomas (revision 1903), 
57-58, 67-70, 85-102, 107-109. 



CHAPTER II 

REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE— 1764-1786 

In 1764-1765 Great Britain began an attempt to bring 
about a "change of policy" in the government of its Amer- 
ican colonies. The "change" consisted of three things : 
(1) Parliamentary taxation of the colonies for the purpose 
of raising a British revenue; (2) enforcement of the old 
but neglected or ignored "trade acts" of 1696 and 1733; 
(3) the maintenance of a British standing army in the colo- 
nies in time of peace. The American Revolution was the 
result of the repeated attempts of Great Britain to put this 
"change of policy" into effect. 

The colonists at first appealed to their "constitutional 
rights as Englishmen" ; but, when this did -fiet— av^, de- 
manded their "natural rights as men." Their opposition at 
first was merely political — protest, argument, appeal, non- 
importation of English goods ; but when Great Britain 
sought to suppress this by force, they took up arms in de- 
fense of what they considered their rights. Their demand 
at first was only for a redress of grievances — the abandon- 
ment of the offensive "change of policy" ; but when Great 
Britain declared them lin rebellion, and sent English and 
foreign troops against them, they made a new demand — 
independence, or separation from the British Empire — as 
the only means by which their rights and liberties could be 
preserved. 

The seven years of war that followed brought an alliance 
with France, and some sort of aid from almost every one 
of the other European rivals of Great Britain ; it produced 
the first formal union among the colonies, in the Confedera- 
tion of 1781 ; and it ended in American victory in 1782-1783. 

165 



166 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Peace was followed by a turning towards state and local 
rights and interests, and the dwindling of the national gov- 
ernment — the Confederation — in power and importance. 
Many recognized the danger of this, and sought to bring 
about its remedy; but until 1786-1787 their efforts were 
without any visible success. 



SECTION I 
THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION— 1764-1776 

Two sets of causes combined to produce the British 
"change of colonial policy" in 1764-1765. The first set is 
found in the French and Indian War of 1754 to 1763. This 
war, together with the Seven Years' War between England 
and France in Europe, more than doubled the English pub- 
lic debt and expenses of government, necessitating the find 
ing of new sources of public revenue ; and it revealed to 
English army officials in America the wealth of the colonies, 
their disregard for British laws and authority, and the lack 
of any central or general organ of British government in the 
colonies. 

The second set of causes consisted of the coming to the 
throne of a new king (George III, 1760), who gathered 
about himself a new set of government officials, among whom 
were men familiar with the conditions in both England and 
the colonies, and with plans for remedying them by certain 
changes in the British policy of colonial government. George 
Grenville, the new British Prime Minister, first attempted 
the change in 1764-1765, but was resisted with much success 
by the colonists on the ground of their constitutional rights 
as Englishmen. Charles Townshend, acting head of the 
ministry, renewed the attempt in 1767, and was again re- 
sisted successfully by the colonists on the ground of both 
their constitutional rights as Englishmen and their natural 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 167 

rights as men. In 1773 still another Prime Minister, Lord 
North, made a third attempt to enforce especially the item 
of taxation ; the colonists resisted. Great Britain attempted 
to force obedience, and during 1775-1776 one step after 
another led finally to British declaration of colonial rebellion 
and beginning of war, and to colonial armed resistance and 
declaration of independence. 

I. THE "STAMP ACT" CONTROVERSY— 1764-1766 
a. British "Change of Colonial Policy," 1764-1765: 

The Sugar Act (April 5, 1764). "Whereas it is expedient 
that new provisions and regulations should be established for 
improving the revenue of this kingdom, and for extending and 
securing the navigation and commerce between Great Britain 
and your Majesty's dominions in America, which, by the peace, 
have been so happily enlarged: and whereas it is just and 
necessary, that a revenue be raised, in your Majesty's said 
dominions in America, for defraying the expenses of defend- 
ing, protecting, and securing the same ; we . . . the 
Commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, . . . 
hcive resolved to give and grant unto your Majesty the several 
rates and duties herein after-mentioned . . . upon . . . sugars, 
. . . indico, and coffee, . . . wines, . . . silks, . . . and . . . 
linen cloth . . • which shall be imported or brought into any 
colony or plantation in America . . . under the dominion of 
his Majesty." ^ 

The Stamp Act (March 22, 1765) . "Whereas, . . . towards 
defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing, 
the British colonies and plantations in America ... it is just 
and necessary, that provision be made for raising a further 
revenue within your Majesty's dominions in America, . . . 
we, . . . the Commons of Great Britain in parliament assem- 
bled, have therefore resolved . . . That . . . there shall be 
raised, levied, collected, and paid unto his Majesty, . . . 
throughout the colonies and plantations in America . . . For 



1. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVI, 33-34. 



168 AMERICAN HISTORY 

every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of 
paper, on which shall be ingrossed, written or printed, any 
[legal or official document] ... a stamp duty. . . . And for 
and upon every pack of playing cards, and all dice, . . . stamp 
duties, . . . And for and upon every . . . pamphlet . . . and 
. . . news paper ... a stamp duty [etc.]. . . . [Any] offences 
against the Sugar Act . . . [or] any other . . . acts of Par- 
liament relating to the trade or revenues of the said colonies 
. . . shall ... be prosecuted ... in any court of record, 
or in any court of admiralty, in the respective colony . . . 
where the offence shall be committed, or in any court of vice- 
admiralty appointed or to be appointed, and which shall have 
jurisdiction within such colony. . . ." ^ 

The Quartering Act, or Mutiny Act (1765). " Whereas . . . 
there may be occasion for marching and quartering of regi- 
ments of his Majesty's forces in several parts of his Majesty's 
dominions in America : be it enacted, . . . That ... it shall 
... be lawful . . . for the . . . civil officers of villages, 
towns, townships, cities, districts, and other places ... to 
billet and quarter the officers and soldiers, in his Majesty's serv- 
ice, in the barracks provided by the colonies ; and if there shall 
not be sufficient room in the said barracks, . . . then ... to 
quarter . . . the residue of such officers and soldiers ... in 
inns, livery stables, ale houses, victualing-houses and the houses 
of sellers of wine . . . ; and in case there shall not be sufficient 
room for the officers and soldiers in such barracks, inns, victual- 
ing and other public ale-houses, ... it shall be . . . lawful 
for the governor and council of each respective province . . . 
to authorize . . . such proper person or persons as they shall 
think fit, to . . . hire . . . for the reception of his Majesty's 
forces, such and so many uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, 
or other buildings, as shall be necessary. . . . And ... all 
such officers and soldiers . . . shall ... be furnished and 
supplied . . . with fire, candles, vinegar, and salt, bedding, 
utensils for dressing their victuals, and small beer or cyder . . . 
without paying anything for the same." ^ 



2. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVI, 179-204. 

3. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVI, 305-309. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 169 

b. Colonial Opposition to the New Policy, 1765-1766: 

Sfcplicn Hopkins: Grievances of flic American Colonies 
(Providence, R. I., 1764-1765). "By all [their] charters it is 
in the most express and solemn manner granted that these ad- 
venturers [colonists] and their children after them forever . . , 
might make laws for their government . . . ; might . . . ac- 
quire goods, and use trade for their advantage, and have an 
absolute property in whatever they justly acquired. . . .[T]he 
first adventurers and their successors, for one hundred and 
thirty years, have fully enjoyed all the freedom and immunities 
promised. . . . But here the scene seems to be unhappily chang- 
ing. The . . . Parliament passed an act, limiting, restricting, 
and burdening the trade of these colonies much more than had 
ever been done before, as also for greatly enlarging the power 
and jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty in the colonies, and 
likewise passed another act establishing certain stamp duties. 
These acts have occasioned great uneasiness among the British 
subjects on the continent of America." * 

Resolutions of the Virginia Legislature (May 29, 1765). 
" Resolved, . . . That by two royal charters . . . the colonists 
. . . are declared and entitled to all privileges and immunities 
of natural-born subjects, ... as if they had been abiding and 
born within the realm of England. Resolved, That his Majes- 
ty's liege people of this his ancient colony have enjoyed the 
right of being thus governed by their own Assembly in the 
article of taxes, . . . and that the same have never been for- 
feited, or any other way yielded up, but have been constantly 
recognized by the King and people of Great Britain. Resolved, 
Therefore, that the General Assembly of this colony, together 
with his Majesty or his substitutes, have in their representative 
capacity, the only exclusive right and power to lay taxes and 
imposts upon the people of this colony ; and that every attempt 
to vest such power in any other person or persons whatever than 
the General Assembly aforesaid, is illegal, unconstitutional, and 
unjust, and has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well 
as American liberty. Resolved, That . . . the inhabitants of 
this colony are not bound to yield obedience to any law . . . 



4. Quoted in S. H. Peabody, American Patriotism, 5, 8. 



170 AMERICAN HISTORY 

designed to impose any taxation whatsoever upon them, other 
than the laws ... of the General Assembly. . . ." ^ 

Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress (Oct. 19, 1765). 
■' The members of this Congress . . . esteem it our indispen- 
sible duty to make the folowing declarations . . . respecting 
the most essential rights and liberties of the colonists, and of 
the grievances under which they labor, by reason of several 
late acts of Parliament. . . . 2d. That his majesty's liege 
subjects in these colonies, are intitled to all the inherent rights 
and liberties of his natural-born subjects, within the kingdom 
of Great Britain. 3d. That it is . . . the undoubted right of 
Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them but with their 
own consent, given personally, or by their representatives. 4th. 
That the people of these colonies are not, and, from their local 
circumstances, can not be, represented in the house of commons 
in Great Britain. 5th. That the only representatives of the peo- 
ple of these colonies are persons chosen therein by themselves, 
and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally 
imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures. . . . 
6th. That all supplies to the crown being free gifts of the peo- 
ple, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles and 
spirit of the British constitution, for the people of Great Britain 
to grant to his Majesty the property of the colonies. . . . 8th. 
That the late act of parliament . . . for granting . . . cer- 
tain stamp duties, ... by imposing taxes on the inhabitants 
of these colonies, and the said act, and several other acts, by 
extending the jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty beyond its 
ancient limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights 
and liberties of the colonists. . . . Lastly, That it is the indis- 
pensible duty of these colonies ... to endeavour ... to 
procure the repeal of the act for granting . . . certain stamp 
duties, of all clauses of any other act of Parliament, whereby 
the jurisdiction of the admiralty [courts] is extended as afore- 
said, and of the other late acts for the restriction of American 
commerce." ^ 



5. Quoted in Edw. Channing, History United States from 1765 to 1865, 
pp. 51-52. 

6. Quoted in Hezekiali Niles, Principles and Acts of the American Revo- 
lution, 163. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 171 

John Dickinson: The Late Regulations respecting the British 
Colonies Considered (Philadelphia, Dec, 1765). "Necessity 
will teach us two ways to relieve ourselves. The one is, to keep 
the British manufactures we purchase longer in use for wear 
than we have been accustomed to do. The other is, to supply 
their place by manufactures of our own. . . . Something of 
this kind will be, nay, already is, practiced by us. . . . Instances 
are not wanting to justify the most sanguine expectations on 
this head, . . . and they may convince the world of the dangers 
that attend provoking innovations in commerce. ... In short, so 
strong a spirit is raised in these colonies by late measures, and 
such successful efforts are already made among us, that it can 
not be doubted, . . . the modern regulations will teach Amer- 
ica, that she has resources within herself, of which she never 
otherwise would have thought." '^ 

Martin Howard: An American Tory's Defense of the British 
Policy (Newport, Rhode Island, 1765). "Depend upon it, . . . 
a people like the English . . . will not patiently be dictated to 
by those whom they have ever considered as dependent upon 
them. . . . ' That no Englishman can be taxed but by his own 
consent, or by representatives,' ... is [the] . . . dry maxim, 
taken in a literal sense, and ill understood, that . . . has made 
all the mischief. ... It is the opinion of the House of Com- 
mons, . . . that they are the representatives of every British 
subject, wheresoever he be. . . . Enlarging the power of the 
court of admiralty, ... is a severity we have brought upon 
ourselves ... to stop the atrocious and infamous practice of 
smuggling. . . . Believe me, ... it gives me great pain to see 
so much ingratitude in the colonies to the mother country, whose 
arms and money so lately rescued them from a French gov- 
ernment. . . ." ^ 

c. British Reception of Colonial Protests, 1766: 

Debate in the Honsc of Connnons (Jan. 14, 1766). "Mr. 
Nugent . . . insisted. That the honour and dignity of the king- 



7. P. L. Ford, Writings of John Dickinson (Memoirs Pa. Hist. See. XIV), 
I, 235-237. 

8. Quoted in A. B. Hart, American History told by Contemporaries, II, 
394-397. 



172 AMERICAN HISTORY 

dom obliged us to compel the execution of the Stamp Act, ex- 
cept the right was acknowledged, and the repeal solicited as a 
favor. . . . 

Mr. Pitt . . . said, ... It is my opinion that this king- 
dom has no right to lay a tax upon the colonies. At the same 
time, I assert the authority of this kingdom over the colonies, 
to be sovereign and supreme, in every circumstance of govern- 
ment and legislation whatsoever. . . . Taxation is no part of 
the governing or legislative power. . . . The distinction be- 
tween legislation and taxation is essentially necessary to liberty. 
. . . The Commons of America, represented in their several 
assemblies, have ever been in possession of the exercise of this, 
their constitutional right, of giving and granting their own 
money. They would have been slaves if they had not enjoyed 
it. At the same time, this kingdom, as the supreme governing 
and legislative power, has always bound the colonies by her 
laws, by her regulations, and restrictions in trade, in navigation, 
in manufactures, in everything, except that of taking their 
money out of their pockets without their consent. . . . 

Mr. Grenville . . . said, ... I can not understand the 
difference between external and internal taxes. They are the 
same in effect, and only differ in name. That this kingdom has 
the sovereign, the supreme legislative power over America, is 
granted. It can not be denied; and taxation is a part of that 
sovereign power. It is one branch of the legislation. . . . 
Protection and obedience are reciprocal. Great Britain protects 
America ; America is bound to yield obedience. . . 

Mr. Pitt. ... If the gentleman does not understand the 
difference between internal and external taxes, I can not help 
it ; but there is a plain distinction between taxes levied for the 
purpose of raising a revenue, and duties imposed for the regula- 
tion of trade. . . . [T]he profits to Great Britain from the 
trade of the colonies ... is two millions [of pounds] a year. 
. . . This is the price that America pays you for her protection. 
And shall a miserable financier come with a boast, that he can 
fetch a pepper-corn into the exchequer, to the loss of millions 
to the nation ! ... In a good cause, on a sound bottom, the 
force of this country can crush America to atoms. . . . But on 
this ground, on the Stamp Act, . . . your success would be 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 173 

hazardous. America, if she fell, would fall like a strong man. 
She would embrace the pillars of the state, and pull down the 
constitution along with her. . . . [M]y opinion ... is, that 
the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely, totally, and immediately. 
That the reason for the repeal be assigned, because it was 
founded on an erroneous principle. At the same time, let the 
sovereign authority of this country over the colonies, be asserted 
in as strong terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to 
every point of legislation whatsoever. That we may bind their 
trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise every power 
whatsoever, except that of taking their money out of their pock- 
ets without their consent," ^ 

Petitions to Parliament by the British Merchants (January, 
1766). "On the 17th of January, 1766, was referred to the House 
[of Commons], and read, a petition of the merchants of Lon- 
don, trading to North America, setting forth, ' that ... the 
petitioners were . . . reduced to the necessity of applying to 
the house, in order to secure themselves and their families 
from impending ruin . . . and intreating such relief as the 
house should deem expedient. This petition was referred to 
the Committee of the whole house, as were also the . . . peti- 
tions . . . of . . . Bristol. ... of Liverpool, : . . of Leeds, . . . 
of Lancaster, ... of Manchester, of Leicester; and ... of 
Bradford . . . ; all complaining of a great decay in the trade to 
the North American colonies, owing to the late obstructions and 
embarrassments laid thereon. . . . And afterwards . . . were 
presented . . . the . . . petitions ... of Frome ; ... of 
Birmingham; ... of Coventry: ... of Macclesfield [and 
of ten other places], ... all containing much the same com- 
plaint. . . ."lo 

Examination of Bcnj. Franklin, of Philadelphia, before the 
British House of Commons (February, 1766). 

Q[uestion]. What was the temper of America towards Great 
Britain before the year 1763? 

A[nswer]. The best in the world. They submitted willingly 
to the government of the crown, and paid, in their courts, obe- 



9. T. C. Hansard. Parliamentary History of England, XVI, 96-108. 
10. Parliamentary Register of Debates, Series 4, Vol. IV, 319-322. 



174 AMERICAN HISTORY 

dience to the acts of Parliament. . . . They were governed . . . 
at the expence only of a little pen, ink and paper. They . . 
had not only a respect, but an affection for Great Britain. . . . 

O. And what is their temper now ? 

A. O, very much altered. 

Q. Did you ever hear the authority of Parliament to make 
laws for America questioned till lately ? 

A. The authority of Parliament was allowed to be valid in 
all laws, except such as would lay internal taxes. It was never 

disputed in laying duties to regulate commerce. 

******** 

Q. Don't you think they would submit to the stamp-act if 
it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken out, and the duty 
reduced . . . ? 

A. No, they will never submit to it. 
******** 

Q. Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that the Par- 
liament had no right to lay taxes and duties there ? 

A. I never heard any objection to the right of laying duties 
to regulate commerce ; but a right to lay internal taxes was 
never supposed to be in Parliament, as we are not represented 

there. 

******** 

Q. Suppose an act of internal regulations connected with a 
tax ; how would they receive it ? 

A. I think it would be objected to. 

0. Then no regulation with a tax would be submitted to? 

A. Their opinion is, that, when aids to the crown are wanted, 
they are to be asked of the several assemblies, according to the 
old established usage ; who will, as they always have done, grant 
them freely. And that their money ought not to be given away, 
without their consent, by persons at a distance, unacquainted 
with their circumstances and abilities. The granting aids to 
the crown is the only means they have of recommending them- 
selves to their sovereign ; and they think it extremely hard and 
unjust, that a body of men, in which they have no representa- 
tives, should make a merit to itself of giving and granting what 
is not its own, but theirs ; and deprive them of a, right they es- 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 175 

teem of the utmost value and importance, as it is the security 
of all their other rights. 

Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans ? 

A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great 
Britain. 

O. What is now their pride ? 

A. To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make 
new ones." ^^ 

Debate in the House of Lords (February, 1766). "Lord 
Camden. . . . My position is this, . . . taxation and repre- 
sentation are inseparable ; . . . for whatever is a man's own, 
is absolutely his own ; no man hath a right to take it from him 
without his consent, either expressed by himself or representa- 
tive. ... I challenge any one to point out the time when any 
tax was laid upon any person by Parliament, that person being 
unrepresented in Parliament. ... I can never give my assent 
to any bill for taxing the American colonies, while they remain 
unrepresented ; for as to the distinction of a virtual representa- 
tion, it is so absurd as not to deserve an answer ; I therefore 
pass it over with contempt. . . ." ^- 

Lord Mansfield : " Nothing . . . could be more fatal to the 
peace of the colonies at any time, than the Parliament giving 
up its authority over them ; for ... it is easy to forsee there 
would be no end of feuds and factions among the several sepa- 
rate governments. . . . There can be no doubt . . . but that 
the inhabitants of the colonies are as much represented in Par- 
liament, as the greatest part of the people of England are repre- 
sented ; among nine millions of whom there are eight which 
have no votes in electing members of Parliament. Every objec- 
tion, therefore, to the dependency of the colonies upon Parlia- 
ment, which arises to it upon the ground of representation, goes 
to the whole present Constitution of Great Britain ; and I sup- 
pose it is not meant to new-model that too. ... A member of 
Parliament, chosen for any borough, represents not only the con- 
stituents and inhabitants of that particular place, but he repre- 
sents the inhabitants of every other borough in Great Britain. 



11. Jared Sparks, Writings of Franklin, IV. 168-198. 

12. T. C. Hansard, Parliamentary History of England, XVI, 178-180. 



176 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Proceed, then, my Lords, with spirit and firmness ; and, when 
you shall have established your authority, it will then be a time 
to show your lenity. . . ." ^^ 

Repeal of Stamp Act (March 18, 1766). " Whereas an act 
was passed in the last session of parliament, . . . granting 
. . . stamp duties ... in America, . . . and whereas the 
continuance of the said act would be attended with many incon- 
veniences, and may be productive of consequences greatly detri- 
mental to the commercial interests of these kingdoms ; . . . 
therefore ... be it enacted. . . . That . . . after the first 
day of May, one thousand seven hundred and sixty six, the 
above-mentioned act . . . shall be, and is . . . hereby re- 
pealed. . . ." ^* 

Parliamentary Declaratory Act (March 18, 1766). "Where- 
as several of the houses of representatives in his Majesty's col- 
onies ... in America, have . . . claimed to themselves . . . 
the sole and exclusive right of imposing duties and taxes upon 
his Majesty's subjects in said colonies . . . ; and have . . . 
passed certain . . . resolutions . . . derogatory to the legis- 
lative authority of parliament, . . . be it declared, . . . That 
. . . the King's majesty, by and with the advice and consent 
of the lords . . . and commons ... in parliament assembled 
. . . hath . . . full power and authority to make laws and 
statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and 
people of America ... in all cases whatsoever." ^^ 

2. THE "TOWNSHEND ACTS" CONTROVERSY, 1767-1770 

a. Renewal of British Attempt to enforce its "Change of Policy," 
1767: 

Act suspending New York Assembly (June 15, 1767). 
"Whereas an act of parliament was made in [1765] . . . ; 
wherein . . . directions were given . . . for the supplying 
his Majesty's troops ... in America, with such necessaries 
as are in the said act mentioned . . . ; and whereas the house 
of representatives of his Majesty's province of New York . . . 



13. C. K. Adams, Representative British Orations, I, 151-171 

14. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVII, 19. 

15. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVII, 19-20. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 177 

have, in direct disobedience . . . refused to make provision 
for supplying the necessaries ... in the manner required by 
the said act ; . . . be it enacted, . . . That . . . until [such] 
provision shall have been made by the said assembly of New 
York, ... it shall not be lawful for the governor ... to 
. . . give his . . . assent to . . . the making or passing of 
any act of assembly ; or . . . for the said house of representa- 
tives to pass or make any bill ... of any kind, for any other 
purpose whatsoever [except adjourning]. . . ." ^^ 

Tozvnshciid Revenue Act (June 29, 1767). "Whereas it is 
expedient that a revenue should be raised ... in America, 
. . . for defraying the charge of the administration of justice, 
and the support of civil government, . . . and towards fur- 
ther defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and secur- 
ing the said dominions ; . . . be it enacted, . . . That . . . 
there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid, unto his Majesty 
. . . for and upon the . . . Goods herein after mentioned . . . 
the several Rates and Duties following ; . . . For every hundred 
weight avoirdupois of green glass, . . . red lead, . . . white 
lead, . . . painters colors, . . . tea, . . . paper, [a certain 
number of] shillings. ..."'' 

Customs Commissioners Act (June 29, 1767). "Whereas 
. . . the rates and duties imposed by . . . acts of parliament, 
upon various goods imported into, or exported from, the British 
colonies ... in America, have been . . . under the manage- 
ment of the commissioners of the customs in England, . . . 
and whereas the officers appointed for the collection of the said 
rates and duties in America, are obliged to apply to the said 
commissioners ... in England . . . upon every particular 
doubt and difficulty which arises . . . ; whereby all persons 
concerned . . . are greatly obstructed and delayed . . . : be it 
therefore enacted, . . . That the customs ... in America . . . 
be put under the management and direction of . . . commis- 
sioners, to reside in the said plantations, . . . [and who shall 
be appointed by] his Majesty. . . . And it is hereby further 
enacted, . . . That the said commissioners . . . shall have 



16. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVII, 309-310. 

17. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVII, 505-506. 



178 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the same powers ... as were, before the passing of this act, 
exercised by the commissioners of the customs in England. 



b. Colonial Opposition to the " Townshend Acts," 1768-1769: 

Massachusetts Circular Letter (February 11, 1768). "The 
House of Representatives of this province . . . have humbly 
represented to the [British] ministry, their own sentiments, . . . 
that it is an essential, unalterable right, in nature, engrafted 
into the British constitution, as a fundamental law, . . . that 
what a man has honestly acquired is absolutely his own, which 
he may freely give, but can not be taken from him without his 
consent; that the American subjects may, therefore, exclusive 
of any consideration of charter rights, . . . assert this natural 
and constitutional right. It is . . . their humble opinion . . . 
that the acts . . . imposing duties on the people of this prov- 
ince, with the sole and express purpose of raising a revenue, 
are infringements of their natural and constitutional rights ; 
because, as they are not represented in the British Parliament, 
his Majesty's Commons in Britain, by those acts, grant their 
property without their consent. This House further are of 
opinion, that their constituents, considering their local circum- 
stances, can not, by any possibility, be represented in the Parlia- 
ment . . . ; being separated by an ocean of a thousand leagues 
. . . : also, that considering the utter impracticability of their 
ever being fully and equally represented in Parliament, . . . 
this House think that a taxation of their constituents, even 
without their consent, grievous as it is, would be preferable to 
any representation that could be admitted for them there. . . . 
They have also submitted to consideration whether any people 
can be said to enjoy any degree of freedom, if the Crown, in 
addition to its undoubted authority of constituting a Governor, 
should appoint him such a stipend as it may judge proper, 
without the consent of the people, and at their expense; and 
whether, while the judges . . . hold not their commissions 
during good behaviour, their having salaries appointed for them 
by the Crown, independent of the people, hath not a tendency 



18. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXVII, 447-449. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 179 

to subvert the principles of equity, and endanger the happiness 
and security of the subject. In addition . . . they take notice 
of the hardships of the act . . . which requires the Governor 
and Council to provide enumerated articles for the King's march- 
ing troops, and the people to pay the expenses ; and also, the 
commission of the gentlemen appointed commissioners of the 
customs, to reside in America, which authorizes them to make as 
many appointments as they think fit, and to pay the appointees 
what sum they please . . . ; from whence it may happen that 
officers of the Crown may be multiplied to such a degree as to 
become dangerous to the liberties of the people. . . . This 
House can not conclude, without expressing their firm confi- 
dence . . . that the united and dutiful supplication of . . . 
distressed American subjects, will meet with . . . royal and 
favorable acceptance." ^^ 

Benjamin Franklin: Causes of American Discontent (an 
anonymous London pamphlet of 1768, purporting to be written 
by an Englishman, explaining the American discontent). " From 
the time that the colonies were first considered as capable of 
granting aids to the crown, down to the end of the last war . . . 
the constant mode of obtaining those aids was by requisition 
made from the crown, through its governors, to the several As- 
semblies. . . . The colonies, being accustomed to this method, 
have from time to time granted money to the crown, or raised 
troops for its service, in proportion to their abilities. . . . Had 
this happy method of requisition been continued, ... all the 
money that could reasonably be expected to be raised from them 
in any manner might have been obtained without the least . . . 
breach of the harmony . . . that so long subsisted between the 
two countries. . . . [T]he colonists universally were of opinion 
that no money could be levied from English subjects but by their 
own consent, given by themselves or their chosen representa- 
tives ; that, therefore, whatever money was to be raised from the 
people in the colonies must first be granted by their Assemblies, 
as the money raised in Britain is first to be granted by the House 
of Commons ; that this right of granting their own money was es- 



19. Quoted in Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters of American History, 
332-334. 



180 AMERICAN HISTORY 

sential to English liberty ; and that, if any man, or body of men, 
in which they had no representatives of their choosing, could 
tax them at pleasure, they could not be said to have any prop- 
erty, anything that they could call their own. 

The person . . . who first projected ... to raise money 
in America by stamps . . . appears to have been very . . . 
apprehensive that it might occasion some disorders ; to prevent 
or suppress which he projected another bill . . . whereby it 
was to be made lawful ... to quarter . . . soldiers in private 
houses. . . . And this act continued in force when the Stamp 
Act was repealed. . . . The colonies, nevertheless, being put 
into high good humor by the repeal of the Stamp Act, chose to 
avoid a fresh dispute . . . ; but a governor having written home 
an angry letter upon [the] . . . conduct in the Assembly of his 
province, ... it was thought necessary to enforce the quar- 
tering act by another act of Parliament, taking away from the 
province of New York, which had been the most explicit in its 
refusal [to provide quarters for the troops], all the powers of 
legislation, till it should have complied with that act. The 
news of which greatly alarmed the people everywhere in Amer- 
ica, as . . . the language of such an act seemed to be : Obey 
implicitly laws made by the Parliament of Great Britain to 
raise money on you without your consent, or you shall enjoy no 
rights or privileges at all. 

At the same time a person lately in high office projected the 
levying more money from America, by new duties on various 
articles of our own manufacture, as glass, paper, painters' 
colors, etc., appointing a new Board of Customs, and sending 
over a set of commissioners, with large salaries, to be estab- 
lished at Boston ,who were to have the care of collecting those 
duties, which were . . . expressly . . . intended for the pay- 
ment of the salaries of governors, judges, and other officers of 
the Crown in America. . . . They say then as to governors, 
that they are not like princes, whose posterity have an inheri- 
tance in the government of the nation and therefore an interest 
in its prosperity. They are generally strangers to the provinces 
they are sent to govern. . . . [That] they come only to make 
money as fast as they can; are sometimes men of vicious char- 
acter and broken fortunes, sent by a minister merely to get them 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 181 

out of the way ; that as they intend staying in the country no 
longer than their government continues, and purpose to leave 
no family behind them, they are apt to be regardless of the good 
will of the people, and care not what is said or thought of them 
after they are gone. . . . That if by means of these forced du- 
ties government is to be supported in America without the inter- 
vention of the Assemblies, their Assemblies will soon be looked 
upon as useless, and a governor will not call them, as having 
nothing to hope from their meeting and perhaps something to 
fear from their inquiries into and remonstrances against his 
maladministration. That thus the people will be deprived of 
their most essential rights. ... As to judges, they allege that, 
being appointed from this country, and holding their commis- 
sions not during good behavior, as in Britain, but during [the 
king's] pleasure, all the weight of interest or influence would be 
thrown into one of the scales (which ought to be held even), 
if the salaries are also to be paid out of duties raised upon the 
people without their consent, and independent of their Assem- 
blies' approbation or disapprobation of the judge's behavior.'' ^o 
John Dickinson: Letters of a Pennsylvania Fanner (Phila- 
delphia, 1768). " With a good deal of surprise I have observed, 
that little notice has been taken of an act of parliament, as 
injurious in its principle to the liberties of these colonies, as 
the Stamp-Act was : 1 mean the act for suspending the legis- 
lature of New- York. ... If the British Parliament has a legal 
authority to issue an order, that we shall furnish a single article 
for the troops here, and to compel obedience to that order, they 
have the same right to issue an order for us to supply those 
troops with arms, cloths, and every necessary; and to compel 
obedience to that order also; in short, to lay any burthens they 
please upon us. What is this but taxing us at a certain sum, arid 
leaving to us only the manner of raising it? How is this mode 
more tolerable than the Stamp-Act f . . . [W]ho are a Free 
People? Not those, over whom government is reasonably and 
equitably exercised, but those, who live under a government so 
constitutionallv checked and controuled that proper provision is 
made against its being otherwise exercised. The late [revenue] 



20. 



J. Sparks. Works of Franklin, IV, 243-249. 



182 AMERICAN HISTORY 

act is founded on the destruction of this constitutional security. 
If the parliament have a right to lay a . . . tax of one penny 
upon us, they have a right to levy a million upon us ; for where 
does their right stop ? ... If they have any right to tax us — 
then, whether our own money shall continue in our own pockets 
or not, depends no longer on us, but on them. . . . These duties 
. . . are expressly laid for the sole purpose of taking 
MONEY. This is the true definition of ' taxes.' They are there- 
fore taxes. This money is to be taken from us. We are there- 
fore taxed. Those who are taxed without their own consent, 
expressed by themselves or their representatives, are slaves . . . 
We are therefore— SLAVES." -^ 

Resolutions of Virginia Legislature (May 16, 1769). " Re- 
solved, . . . That the sole right of imposing taxes on the inhabi- 
tants of this . . . colony ... of Virginia is now, and ever 
hath been, legally and constitutionally vested in the house of 
burgesses . . . with the consent of the council, and of . . . 
the king ... or his governor. . . ." ^^ 

c. British Response to Colonial Opposition, 1769-1770: 

Debate in the House of Coiuinons(]an. 26, 1769). " The grand 
debate then commenced on the North American affairs. The . . . 
Resolutions [of censure upon Massachusetts] and Address [prom- 
ising support to the king in enforcing the laws], sent down from 
the Lords, were produced, and the concurrence of the Commons 
was moved thereon. The debate was very fine indeed. . . . 
Notwithstanding the powerful majority by which these Resolu- 
tions and the address were carried through, no measures were 
ever opposed with more firmness, nor no subject more ably 
discussed, than this was through the long course of debate with 
which it was attended. As both the right and the propriety of 
American taxation, were brought within the discussion, the ar- 
guments under these heads have already been given, on the 
occasion of . . . the repeal of the stamp duties. The ground 
principally and most ably taken to justify the taxes objected to, 
as well as to shew the propriety of the measures now under 
consideration, was the violent conduct of the Americans ; which 



21. P. L. Ford, Writings of Jolin Dickinson, I, 308-309, 356-357. 

22. Quoted in Wm. Macdonald, Select Charters of American History, 335. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 183 

put government under a necessity of using methods, however 
disagreeable to itself, absolutely necessary for the support of 
its dignity, and of the legislative authority. . . ." -^ 

Partial Repeal of Tozvnshcnd Revenue Act (April 12, 1770). 
" Whereas . . . certain duties upon glass, red-lead, white-lead, 
painters colours, and . . . several sorts of paper . . . [and] 
paste-board, mill-board, and scale-board . . . imported into . . . 
America, ... in so far as they affect the produce and manu- 
facture of Great Britain, do in their nature tend to the preju- 
dice and discouragement thereof, and are therefore contrary to 
the true principles of commerce : . . . therefore . . . be it 
enacted, . . . That from and after the first day of December 
[1770], ... so much of the said . . . act ... is hereby 
repealed. . . ." -* 

3. THE "TEA TAX" CONTROVERSY, 1773-1774 

a. Third British Attempt to Tax the Colonists, 1773: 

The Tea Act (May, 1773). "Whereas, ... it may tend to 
the benefit and advantages of the trade of the said united com- 
pany of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, if 
the allowance of the drawback of the duties . . . upon all 
teas . . . exported from this kingdom ... to any of the British 
colonies ... in America, were to extend to the whole of the 
said duties . . . ; ... therefore ... be it enacted, . . . 
That there shall be drawn back and allowed for all teas . . . 
exported to any of the British colonies ... in America, the 
whole of the duties . . . payable upon the importation of such 
teas. . . ." -° 

b. Colonial Resistance: 

The Boston Tea Party (Samuel Adams to Arthur Lee, Dec. 
31, 1773). " I am now to inform you of as remarkable an event 
as has yet happened since the commencement of our struggle 
for American liberty. . . . [M]y [last letter] was succeeded by 
the arrival of the ship Falmouth, . . . with 114 chests of the 
East India Company's tea. . . . You will observe by the printed 



23. Edmund Burke in the British Annual Register for 1769, pp. 55, 59. 

24. D. Pickering, Rriti:,h Statutes at Large, XXVIII, 294-295. 

25. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXX, 74-75. 



184 AMERICAN HISTORY 

proceedings, that the people were resolved that the tea should not 
be landed, but sent back to London. . . . The people finding all 
their endeavours for this purpose . . . totally frustrated, dis- 
solved the [mass] meeting [of Dec. 14th]. ... In less than 
four hours every chest of tea on board three ships which had 
by this time arrived, . . . was thrown into the sea. . . ." ^® 

c. British Attempt to Compel Colonial Obedience, 1774: 

Debates in the House of Commons (Mar. 14-Apr. 15, 1774). 
" Lord North said . . . that the present disorders entirely arose, 
and were occasioned by the inhabitants of Boston . . . ; he 
thought the inhabitants of the town of Boston deserved punish- 
ment. . . . Boston alone was to blame for having set this 
example, therefore Boston ought to be the principal object of 
our attention for punishment. . . . He said, ... let it go 
forth into the world, that the Parliament of Great Britain will 
protect their subjects and their property. . . . His Lordship ob- 
served . . . we were no more to dispute between legislation 
and taxation, we were now to consider only whether or not 
we have any authority there. . . . We must, he said, punish, 
controul, or yield to them. . . . 

Mr. Sawbridge . . . said . . . that he was now, and always 
had been, of such opinion, that this country had no right to tax 
America ; that ... if this country had a right to take a single 
shilling out of an American's pocket, they have a right to take 
the whole. . . . 

Mr. Van said, he agreed to the flagitiousness of the offense 
in the Americans, and therefore was of opinion, that the town 
of Boston ought to be knocked down about their ears, and des- 
troyed. . . . Says he, I am of opinion you will never meet with 
that proper obedience to the laws of this country, until you have 
destroyed that nest of locusts. . . . 

Mr. Stephen Fox said, ... the people of Boston have be- 
haved in a most outrageous manner, militating against every 
principle of law and justice, combatting against its own consti- 
tutional power, and totally subverting every idea of order and 
regularity. Would you let these men go on in that chaos of 
disturbance? ... I hope . . . this House will lend its advice, 



26. H. A. Gushing, Writings of Samuel Adams, III, 73-76. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 185 

and endeavor to save these hot-headed Americans ... by firm 
and manly proceedings. . . . 

Colonel Barre. . . . When I stand up as an advocate for 
A.merica, I feel myself the firmest friend of this country. We 
stand upon the commerce of America. Alienate your colonies, 
and you will subvert the foundation of your riches and your 
strength. Let the banners of rebellion be once spread in Amer- 
ica, and you are an undone people. . . . You are becoming the 
aggressors, and offering the last of outrages to the people of 
America. . . . Ask their aid in a constitutional manner, and they 
will give it to the utmost of their ability. They never yet re- 
fused it, when properly required. . . . What madness is this 
that prompts you to attempt obtaining that by force which you 
may more certainly procure by requisition ? They may be flat- 
tered into anything, but they are too much like yourselves to 
be driven. . . . 

Lord Carmathen. . . . Great Britain neither can nor ought 
to sit silent, and behold the riots and disturbances that have 
been committed in America ; committed . . . by a people sent 
from this country, as it were from our own bowels ; to see 
these men disobey the laws and precepts of Great Britain, and to 
sit tamely, and take no notice, would be insipid conduct, highly 
unworthy of the British Legislature. For what purpose were 
they suffered to go to that country, unless the profit of their 
labour should return to their masters here? . . . 

Mr. Edmund Burke. ... I know not how it is, but this 
dignity of yours is a terrible incumbrance to you ; for it has of 
late been ever at war with your interest, your equity, and every 
idea of your policy ...;... what dignity is derived from 
the perseverence in absurdity, is more than ever I could dis- 
cern. . . . Whether you were right or wrong in establishing 
the Colonies on the principles of commercial monopoly, rather 
than on that of revenue, is at this day a problem of mere specu- 
lation. You can not have both by the same authority. To join 
together the restraints of an universal internal and external 
monopoly [of trade], with an universal internal and external 
taxation, is an unnatural union ; perfect uncompensated slavery. 
. . . Recover your old ground, and your old tranquility. . . . 
Again, and again, revert to your old principles — . . . leave 



186 AMERICAN HISTORY 

America, if she has taxable matter in her, to tax herself. 
. . . Leave the Americans as they anciently stood, and these 
distinctions, born of our unhappy contest, will die along with it. 
. . . Until you come back to that system, there will be no peace 
for England. . . ." -^ 

Boston Port Act (March 31, 1774). "Whereas dangerous 
commotions and insurrections have been fomented and raised 
in the town of Boston ... by divers ill-affected persons, . . . 
in which commotions and insurrections certain valuable cargoes 
of teas ... of the East India Company . . . were seized and 
destroyed : . . . be it enacted . . . That ... it shall not be 
lawful for any person or persons whatsoever to lade ... off 
from any quay, wharf, or other place, within the said town of 
Boston, or to take up, discharge, or lay on land, . . . any goods, 
wares, or merchandise whatsoever, . . . until . . . full satisfaction 
hath been made ... for the damage sustained by the said 
[East India] company by the destruction of their goods sent to 
the said town of Boston. . . ." -* 

Massachusetts Government Act (May 20, 1774. " Whereas 
. . . the [charter] method of electing . . . counsellors or as- 
sistants . . . hath . . . been found to be extremely ill adapted 
to the plan of government established in the province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay. . . . And it hath accordingly happened, that an 
open resistance to the execution of the laws hath actually taken 
place in the town of Boston, and . . . within said province : 
Be it therefore enacted, . . . that . . . the council, or court 
of assistants . . . shall be . . . appointed by his Majesty, . . . 
shall hold their offices . . . during the pleasure of his Majesty, 
. . . and shall have and enjoy all the powers ... at present 
. . . exercised ... by the assistants or counsellors of the 
said province . . . under the [old] charter [of 1691]. . . . 
And be it further enacted, . . . That . . . the lieutenant-gov- 
ernor . . . appoint ... all judges of the inferior courts . . . 
and other officers to the . . . courts of justice belonging. . . . 
And be it further enacted, . . . That ... his Majesty's gov- 
ernor . . . appoint the sheriffs without the consent of the 



27. Parliamentary Register, ser 4, vol. VII, 69-73, 93, 106, 118, 135, 146, 
169-170, 174. 

28. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXX, 336-340. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 187 

council. . . . And . . . be it enacted, that ... no [town] 
meeting shall be called by the select men . . . except the annual 
meetings for the choice of select men, constables, and other 
officers. . . . And . . . jurors . . . shall be sunmioned and 
returned by the sheriffs of the . . . counties. ..." -'' 

Aduiinistration of Justice Act (May 20, 1774). " Whereas 
in . . . Massachuset's Bay ... an attempt hath been made 
to throw off the authority of the parliament of Great Britain, 
. . . and an actual and avowed resistance, by open force, to 
the execution of certain acts of parliament . . . ; and whereas 
. . . it is of the utmost importance . . . that neither the mag- 
istrates . . . nor any of his Majesty's subjects . . . should 
be discouraged from the proper discharge of their duty . . . ; 
be it enacted, . . . That if any . . . indictment shall be found 
. . . against any person, for murther. or other capital offence, 
in . . . Massachuset's Bay, and it shall appear . . . [said of- 
fence] was committed . . . either in execution of . . . duty 
as a magistrate, for the suppression of riots, or in support of 
the laws of revenue, ... it shall ... be lawful for the 
governor, . . . with the advice and consent of the council, that 
the . . . indictment . . . shall be tried in some other of his 
Majesty's colonies, or in Great Britain. . . ."^" 

Quartcrimg Act (June 2, 1774). "Whereas doubts have 
been entertained, whether troops can be quartered otherwise 
than in barracks, in case barracks have been provided . . . ; 
and whereas it may frequently happen, from the situation of such 
barracks, that, if troops should be quartered therein, they would 
not he stationed where their presence may be necessary and re- 
quired : be it therefore enacted, . . . That, if it shall happen at 
any time that any officers or soldiers . . . shall remain . . . 
without quarters for the space of twenty-four hours after such 
quarters shall have been demanded, it shall ... be lawful for the 
governor of the province to order and direct such and so many 
uninhabited houses ... or other buildings, as he shall think 
necessary to be taken . . . and quarter such officers and sol- 
diers therein, for such time as he shall think proper." ^^ 



29. n. Pickering, British ?tntutes at Large, XXX, 381-384. 

30. Same. XXX, 367-368, 

31. Same, XXX, 410. 



188 AMERICAN HISTORY 

4. REVOLUTION, 1774-1775 
a. Colonial Resistance to " Intolerable Acts," 1774: 

MassacJiKsctts Supported by the Other Colonies (Extracts 
from letters of Samuel Adams, July-Oct., 1774). "The unright- 
eous and oppressive Act of the British Parliament for shutting 
up this Harbour . . . has . . . failed ... of the Effect which 
the Enemies of America flattered themselves it would have. The 
inhabitants still wear chearful countenances. . . . They are 
daily encouraged to persevere, by the intelligence which they 
received from their Brethren, not of this province only, but of 
e\ery other Colon}^, that they are consider'd as suffering in the 
common Cause; and the Resolution of all. to support them in the 
Conflict. Lord North had no Expectation that we should be thus 
Sustained ; . . . the Steadiness and Prudence of the People, 
and the unexpected Union of the Colonies, evidenc'd by liberal 
Contributions for our support, have disconcerted [the British 
Ministry]. . . . The Port bill is followed by two others; one for 
cutting the Charter of this Province into Shivers. . . . The 
Minds of this People can never be reconciled to so fundamental 
a Change of their civil Constitution. . . . It is generally agreed 
that an opposition to the new Mode of Government ought to be 
maintaind. A warm Advocate for the Cause of Liberty . . . 
told me that he was fully of Opinion that no officer under the 
new Establishment ought to be acknowledgd ; . . . that each 
of them should be warned against exercising any Authority 
upon pain of the utmost Resentment of the people. ... 1 have 
written to our Friends to provide themselves without Delay 
with Arms & Ammunition ... & prepare . . that they may 
be ready in Case they are called to defend themselves against 
the violent Attacks of Despotism. Surely the Laws of Self- 
Preservation will warrant it in this Time of Danger & doubtful 
Expectation." ^- 

An American Tory's Plea for Conciliation (Joseph Gallo- 
way, of Pennsylvania, in the Continental Congress, Sept. 28, 
1774). "There are two propositions before Congress for restor- 
ing . . . harmony : one, that Parliament should be requested 



32. H. A. Cushing, Writings of Samuel Adams, III, 136137. 142, 154-155, 
162-163. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 180 

to place the colonies in the state they were in the year 1763 ; 
the other, that a non-exportation and non-importation agreement 
should be adopted. . . . The first proposition is.indecisive . . . and 
without meaning. . . . The second proposition is undutiful and 
illegal ; it is an insult on the supreme authority of the State : it 
can not fail to draw on the colonies the united resentment of 
the Mother Country. . . . Desirous as I am to promote the free- 
dom of the colonies, and to prevent the mischiefs which will at- 
tend a military contest with Great Britain, I must intreat you 
to desert the measures which have been so injudiciously and 
ineffectually pursued by antecedent Assemblies. I would . . . 
acknowledge the necessity of the supreme authority of Parlia- 
ment over the colonies . . . ; and if we do not approve of a 
representation in Parliament, let us ask for a participation in 
the freedom and power of the English constitution in some other 
m.ode of incorporation ; for I am convinced . . . we shall find 
. . . [no way] that can give -the colonies substantial freedom, 
but some such incorporation. I therefore beseech you . . . not 
to rely on a denial of the authority of Parliament, a refusal to 
be represented, and on a non-importation agreement ; because 
... it will prove to the world that we intend to throw off our 
allegience to the [British] State, and to involve the two coun- 
tries in all the horrors of a civil war. ... I have prepared 
'. . . a plan for uniting America more intimately, in constitu- 
tional policy, with Great Britain . . . ; and I am confident that 
no American, who wishes to continue a subject of the British 
State, which is what we all uniformly profess, can offer any 
reasonably objection to it." ^^ 

Declaration of Rights by the First Continental Congress 
(Philadelphia, Oct. 14, 1774). "Whereas ... in the last ses- 
sion of parliament, three statutes were made ; one intituled. 
' An act to discontinue . . . the . . . shipping of goods . . . 
within the harbour of Boston . . . ;' another intituled, 'An act 
for the better regulating the government of . . . Massachusetts 
. . . ;' and another intituled, 'An act for the impartial adminis- 
tration of justice Ml which statutes are impolitic, un- 
just, and cruel, as well as unconstitutional, and most dangerous 



33. Quoted in W. C. Ford. Journals of the Continental Congress, T, 44-48. 



190 AMERICAN HISTORY 

and destructive of American rights ; The good people of the 
several Colonies . . . declare, That the inhabitants of the Eng- 
lish Colonies in North America, by the immutable laws of na- 
ture, the principles of the English constitution, and the several 
charters of compacts, have the following Rights : . . . That 
they are entitled to life, liberty & property. . . . That the 
foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a 
right in the people to participate in their legislative council : and 
as the English colonists are not represented, and from their 
local and other circumstances, can not properly be represented 
in the British parliament, they are entitled to a free and ex- 
clusive power of legislation in their several provincial legisla- 
tures ... in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject 
only to the negative of their sovereign, in such manner as has 
been heretofore used and accustomed. . . . 

To these grievous acts and measures [of 1764 to 1774], 
Americans can not submit, but .' . . we have for the present 
only resolved to pursue the following peaceable measures: 1st. 
To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non- 
exportation agreement or association. 2. To prepare an ad- 
dress to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the 
inhabitants of British America, & 3. To prepare a loyal 
address to his Majesty. . . ." ^* 

b. British Retaliation for Continued Colonial Resistance, Jan.- 
Mar., 1775: 

Debate in the House of Lords (Jan. 20, 1775. " The Earl of 
Chatham. . . . .America means only to have safety in property; 
and personal liberty . . . ; independency was falsely charged to 
her . . . Anger was your motive. . . . — 'What! shall America 
presume to be free? — don't hear them, chastise them.' . . . 
All the mischief has arisen from your anger. . . . The nation 
of America, who have the virtues of the people they sprung 
from, will not be slaves. ... I foretel ' these bills must be 
repealed; — I submit to be called an ideot if they are not; — three 
millions of men ready to arm, and talk of forcing them ! . . . 
Forty thousand men are not adequate to the idea of subduing 



34. \V. C. Ford, Journals of Continental Congress, I, 63-73. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 191 

them to your taxation. . . . His . . . motion was, ' That . . . 
in order to open the way towards an happy settlement of the 
dangerous troul)les in America, . . . that immediate orders 
may be despatched . . . for removing his Majesty's forces 
from the town of Boston.' . . . 

The Earl of Suffolk . . . insisted strongly that the mother 
country should never relax till America confessed her suprem- 
acy. ... He supposed . . . that the noble Earl [Chatham] 
would be alone in his opinion, that this country had not the right 
to tax America. . . . 

The Lord Lyttleton . . . grounded his argument chiefly on 
the legislative supremacy of the British parliament. ... It 
would be a madness in the extreme . . . to . . . relinquish 
it. . . . Now . . . was the time to assert the authority of 
Great Britain, for . . . every concession on our side would 
produce a new demand on theirs; and in the end, bring about 
that state of traitorous independency, at which it was too plain 
they were now aiming. . . . 

The Lord Camden . . . said . . . that the natural right 
of mankind, and the immutable laws of justice, were clearly in 
favour of the Americans. . . . 

The Earl of Rockford was for firm and decisive measures. 
. . . The unity of the British empire should, in his opinion, 
supersede every inferior consideration. . . . 

Earl Gower . . . was well informed, that the language now 
held by the Americans, was the language of the rabble and a 
few factious leaders ; ... we should exert and strain every 
nerve to make them submit. 

The Marquis of Rockingham . . . was glad of an oppor- 
tunity of resisting that mischievous and dangerous design of 
governing the colonies by force. . . . 

Lord Viscount Weymouth . . . was for sending troops to 
America." ^^ 

Debate in the House of Commons (Feb. 2-6, 1775). "Lord 
North . . . drew a comparison between the burdens borne by 
the people of Great Britain and those of America. . . . [In] 
Great Britain . . . every inhabitant pays at least twenty-five 



35. Parli.imentary Register, series 5, vol. II. PP- 6-17. 



192 AMERICAN HISTORY 

shillings annually . . . ; an inhabitant of America pays no more 
than sixpence annually. He then proceeded to lay down the 
legislative supremacy of parliament. . . . He hinted, the 
measures intended to be pursued . . . were, to send more force ; 
to . . . put a stop to all the foreign trade of New England, 
particularly to their fishery on the banks of Newfoundland, till 
they returned to their duty; at the same time declaring that 
whenever they should acknowledge the supreme authority of the 
British legislature . . . and make a due submission . . . their 
real grievances . . . should be redressed. . . . 

Mr. Dunning . . . insisted America was not in rebellion ; 
and that every appearance of . . . sedition . . . arose not 
from disobedience, treason, or rebellion, but was created by the 
conduct of those whose views were to establish despotism. . . . 

Colonel Grant said, he had served in America, knew the 
Americans well, was certain they would not fight ; they would 
never dare to face an English army. . . . 

Mr. Fox . . . pointed out the injustice, the inexpediency, 
and folly of the [Lord North's] motion ; prophesied defeat on 
one side the water, and ruin and punishment on the other. . . . 

[Mr. Wilkes :] The business now before the House respect- 
ing America is of as great importance as was ever debated in 
Parliament. . . . The assumed right of taxation without the 
consent of the subject is plainly the primary cause of the pres- 
ent quarrel. Have we . . . any right to tax the Americans ? 
. . . The fundamental laws of human nature, and the principles 
of the English constitution, are equally repugnant to the claim. 
... If we can tax the Americans without their consent . . . 
[the] words ' liberty and property,' so dear to an Englishman, 
so pleasing in our ears, would become mockery and insult to an 
American. . . . 

Captain Harvey. . . . That America . . . ought to be sub- 
ordinate to the authority of Great-Britain, is beyond a doubt, 
more especially when we consider ... at what immense ex- 
pence of blood and treasure to this country those very colonies 
have been brought to that excess of greatness and riches, as 
that they shall now vainly think themselves able, and insolently 
declare themselves ready, to shake off their dependence, and 
become a separate state. ... I will never consent to the . . . 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 193 

rcpealin;^- of any . . . resolution, order or act, that either the 
last, or any former parliament has passed for the declaring, 
maintaining, and enforcing the legislative authority of Great 
Britain over all its colonies. . . . 

Governor Johnstone. Before you pronounce this dreadful 
sentence upon a meritorious, sober, and industrious people, I 
hope the House will indulge me with a few words. . . . The 
. . . real cause of dispute . . . [is] the right of taxation. 
!Most of the advocates on the other side have endeavoured to 
slur this point. . . . This was the subject of contention in the 
civil wars of Charles the First . . . ; this is the point which 
Hampden obtained for us. . . ." ^'^ 

Joint Resolution of both Houses of Parliament (Feb. 7, 1775). 
" We, . . . the Lords . . . and Commons . . . find, that a 
part of your Majesty's subjects in the province of Massachusets 
Bay have proceeded so far to resist the authority of ihe supreme 
legislature, that a rebellion at this time actually exists within 
the said province. We . . . consider it as our indispensable 
duty, humbly to beseech your Majesty, that you will take the 
most effectual measures to enforce due obedience to the laws 
and authority of the supreme legislature ; and we . . . assure 
your Majesty, that it is our fixed resolution, at the hazard of 
our lives and properties, to stand by your Majesty against all 
rebellious attempts in the maintenance of the just rights of your 
Majesty and the two Houses of Parliament." ^' 

New England Restraining Act (Mar. 30, 1775). ". . . 
whereas, during the continuance of the combinations and dis- 
orders, which at this time prevail within the provinces of [New 
England], ... to the obstruction of the commerce . . . and 
in breach and violation of the laws of this realm, it is highly 
unfit that the inhabitants of the said provinces . . . should 
enjoy the same privileges of trade, and the same benefits and 
advantages to which his Majesty's faithful and obedient sub- 
jects are intitled ; be it therefore enacted, . . . That ... no 
goods . . . shall be shipped . . . from any of the said prov- 
inces ... to any . . . part, or place whatsoever, other than 



36. Parliamentary Register, series 5, vol. 1, 140-142, 148-149, 154-155, 
165-166. 

37. T. C. Hansard. Parliamentary History of England, XVIII, 297-298. 



194 AMERICAN HISTORY 

to Great Britain, or some of the British islands in the West 
Indies. . . . And . . . no sort of . . . goods . . . shall be 
imported into any of the said colonies, . . . unless . . . 
shipped in Great Britain, and carried directly from thence [to 
the colonies]." "** 

Lord North's Plan of Conciliation (passed by Parliament, 
F"eb. 20 and 27, 1775). "... when the Governor, Council, and 
Assembly . . . of any one of his Majesty's Provinces or Colo- 
nies in America, shall propose to make provision, according to 
the condition, circumstances, and situation of such Province or 
Colony, for contributing their proportion to the common de- 
fence.. . . and shall engage to make provision also for the sup- 
port of the I British] Civil (jovernment, and the Administration 
of Justice, in such Province or Colony, it will be proper, if such 
proposal shall be approved by his Majesty and the two Houses 
of Parliament, ... to forbear, in . . . such Province or Col- 
ony, to levy any Duty, , Tax, or Assessment, or to impose any 
farther Duty. Tax, or Assessment, except only such Duties as it 
may be expedient to continue to levy or to impose for the regu- 
lation of commerce ; the nett produce of the Duties last men- 
tioned to be carried to the account of such Province or Colony 
respectively."" "'' 

c. Colonial Resort to Arms, April-July, 1775: 

An Aincrica>i Tory Argninoit against Resistance (Daniel 
Leonard, of Boston, as "Massachusettensis" in the ^Massachusetts 
Gazette, Dec, 1774-Mar., 1775). "We already feel the effects 
01 anarchy : mutual confidence, affection, and tranquility . . , 
are succeeded by distrust, hatred, and wild uproar; the useful 
arts or agriculture and commerce are neglected for caballing, 
mobbing this or the other man, because he acts, speaks, or is 
suspected of thinking different from the prevailing sentiment 
... in purchasing arms and forming a militia ; O height of 
madness ! with a professed design of opposing Great Britain 
. . . [Y]ou are much deceived, if you imagine that Great Britain 
will accede to the claims of the colonies, she will as soon con- 
quer New England as Ireland or Canada, if either of them re- 



38. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXXI, 4-6. 

39. Quoted in \Vm. Macdonald, Select Charters, 367-368. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 195 

volted. . . . Perhaps you are as fatally mistaken in another respect, 
I mean, as to the power of Great Britain to conquer. But can 
any of you, that think soberly upon the matter, be so deluded 
as to think that Great Britain, who so lately carried her arms 
with success to every part of the globe, ... is unable to con- 
quer us ? ... A very considerable part of the men of prop- 
erty in this province, are at this day firmly attached to the cause 
of [the British] government; bodies of men, compelling persons 
to disavow their sentiments, . . . has wrought no change in 
their sentiments ; it has only attached them more closely to [the 
British] government, and caused them to wish more fervently, 
and pray more devoutly, for its restoration. These, and thou- 
sands beside, if they fight at all, will fight under the banners of 
loyalty [to England]. I can assure you that associations are 
now forming . . . for the support of his majesty's government 
and mutual defence; and let me tell you, whenever the royal 
standard shall be set up, there will be such a flocking to it as 
will astonish the most obdurate. . . . There is but a step be- 
tween you and ruin : and should . . . hostilities actually com- 
mence, New England will stand recorded a singular monument 
of human folly and wickedness. . . . We have only to cease 
contending with the supreme legislature [ and] . . . with the 
king . . . and ... to dismiss our illegal committees, disband 
our forces, despise the thraldom of arrogant congresses, and 
submit to constitutional government, to be happy. . . . Do you 
expect to conquer in war? . . . Nothing short of a miracle 
could gain you one battle. . . . Aly dear countrymen, you have 
i)efore you, at your election, peace or war, hapi)iiiess or misery. 
May the God of our forefathers direct you in the way that leads 
to peace and happiness, before your feet stumble on the dark 
mountains, before the evil days come, wherein you shall say, we 
have no pleasure in them." *" 

Patrick Henry: "IVe Must Fis^lit " (S])ecch before \'irginia 
Assembly, Mar. 23, 1775). "This is no time for ceremony. The 
question ... is one of awful moment to this country. For 
my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of 



40. Hews & Goss: Novanglus and Massachusettensis (Boston, 1819), 143-145. 
n7, 226-227. 



196 AMERICAN HISTORY 

freedom or slavery. ... I ask, . . . what means . . . this 
accumulation of navies and armies ? . . . They are meant for 
us. . . . They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those 
chains, which the British ministry have been so long forging. 
And what have we to oppose them ? Shall we try argument ? 
Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. . . . We 
have petitioned ; we have remonstrated ; we have supplicated. 
. . . There is no longer any room for hope . . . — we must 
fight ! I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! An appeal to arms and 
to the God of Hosts is all that is left us ! . . . Gentlemen may 
cry, Peace, peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually 
begun. The next gale, that sweeps from the north, will bring- 
to our ears the clash of resounding arms ! Is life so dear, or 
peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and 
slavery ? Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know not what course 
others may take ; but as for me, give me liberty or give me 
death ! " " 

The Effect of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775). 
Jefferson to Dr. Wm. Small (May 7, 1775). " Within the week 
we have received the unhappy news of an action . . . between 
the Kings' troops and our brethren of [near] Boston. . . . 
This accident has cut off our last hope of reconciliation, and a 
phrensy of revenge seems to have seized all ranks of people." *^ 

Franklin to Wm. Strahan, of London (July 5, 1775). " You 
have begun to . . . murder our people. Look upon your hands, 
they are stained with the blood of your relations ! You and I 
were long friends ; you are now my enemy, and I am, 

Yours, B. Franklin." *^ 

Congressional Declaration of Causes and Necessity of Tak- 
ing up Arms against Great Britain (July 6, 1775). "... The 
legislature [Parliament] of Great Britain . . . have at length 
. . . attempted to effect their cruel and impolitic purpose of 
enslaving these Colonies by violence, and have thereby rendered 
it necessary for us to close with their last appeal from Reason 
to Arms. . . . [W]e esteem ourselves bound, by obligations of 



41. Quoted in S. H. Peabody, American Patriotism, 108-110. 

42. P. L. Ford, Writings of Jefferson, I, 453-454. 
43 J. Sparks, Works of Franklin, VIII, 155. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 197 

respect to the rest of the world, to make known the justice of 
our cause. . . . 

Parliament . . . have undertaken to give and grant our 
money without our consent, though we have ever exercised an 
exclusive right to dispose of our own property ; statutes have 
been passed for extending the jurisdiction of courts of Ad- 
miralty and Vice- Admiralty beyond their ancient limits ; for 
depriving us of the accustomed and inestimable privilege of 
trial by jury, in cases affecting both life and property; for 
suspending the legislature of one of the colonies ; for interdict- 
ing all commerce to the capital of another ; and for altering 
fundamentally the form of government established by charter 
. . . . ; and for quartering soldiers upon the colonists in time 
of profound peace. . . . 

We have pursued every temperate, every respectful measure : 
we have even proceeded to break off our commercial intercourse 
with our [British] fellow-subjects, as the last peaceable admo- 
nition, that our attachment to no nation upon earth should 
supplant our attachment to liberty. — This, we flattered our- 
selves, was the ultimate step of the controversy : But subse- 
quent events have shewn, how vain was this hope of finding 
moderation in our enemies. . . . 

The Lords and Commons in their address . . . said, that 
' a rebellion at that time actually existed within the province 
of Massachusetts.' . . . Soon after, the commercial intercourse 
of whole colonies, with foreign countries, and with each other, 
was cut off by an act of Parliament . . . and large re-inforce- 
ments of ships and troops were immediately sent over to Gen- 
eral Gage. . . . 

We are reduced to the alternative of chusing an uncondi- 
tional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or re- 
sistance by force. — The latter is our choice. — We have counted 
the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as volun- 
tary slavery. . . . Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. 
Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign as- 
sistance is undoubtedly attainable. . . . With hearts fortified 
with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before 
God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of 
those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously be- 



198 AMERICAN HISTORY 

stowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our ene- 
mies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with un- 
abating firmness and perseverence, employ for the preservation 
of our liberties ; being with our [one] mind resolved to dye 
Free-men rather than live Slaves." ** 

5. INDEPENDENCE, 1775-1776 

a. British Reply to Colonial Armed Resistance, 1775: 

TJw King's Proclauiation of Colonial Rebellion (Aug. 22>, 
1775). "Whereas many of our subjects in divers parts of our 
Colonies and Plantations in North America, misled by dangerous 
and ill-designing men, and forgetting the allegiance which they 
owe to the power that has protected and supported them . . . 
have at length proceeded to open and avowed rebellion, . . . 
we have thought fit ... to issue our Royal Proclamation . . . 
that not only all our Officers, civil and military, are obliged to 
exert their utmost endeavours to suppress such rebellion, and to 
bring the traitors to justice, but that all our subjects . . . are 
bound by law to be aiding and assisting in the suppression of 
such rebellion. . . ." *•• 

Restraining Act against All American Trade (Dec. 22, 1775). 
" Whereas many persons in the colonies . . . have set them- 
selves in open rebellion and defiance to the just and legal au- 
thority of the king and parliament of Great Britain, to which 
thev ever have been, and of right ought to be, subject; 
. . . be it therefore . . . enacted, . . . That all manner of 
trade and commerce is and shall be prohibited with the colo- 
nies. . . ." *^ 

b. Colonial Declaration of Independence, 1775-1776: 

The Radical American Whig Policy (Resolutions presented 
to the Continental Congress by Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- 
ginia, June 7, 1776) : 

" Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent States. . . . 



44. W. C. Ford, Journals Continental Congress, II, 141-155. 

45. Macdonald, 389-390. 

4^. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXXI, 135. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 199 

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual 
measures for forming foreign Alliances. 

That a plan of Confederation be prepared and transmitted 
to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approba- 
tion." *'' 

Congressional Debate upon Independence (June 8 and 10, 
1776). "It was argued by Wilson, Rol^ert R. Livingston, E. 
Rutledge, Dickinson and others 

That tho they were friends to the measures themselves, 
. . . yet they were against adopting them at this time : 

That [they favored] . . . deferring to take any capital step 
till the voice of the people drove us to it : . . . That the people 
of the middle colonies (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, the 
Jersies, and N York) were not yet ripe for bidding adieu to 
British connection . . . ; That some of them had expressly for- 
bidden their delegates to consent to such a declaration. . . . : 
That if such a declaration should now be agreed to, these dele- 
gates must retire and possibly their colonies might secede from 
the Union : That such a secession would weaken us more than 
could be compensated by any foreign alliance : . . . 

That we had little reason to expect an alliance with those 
to whom alone as yet we had cast our eyes : . . . That it was 
more likely they [France and Spain] should form a connection 
with the British court, who . . . would agree to a partition of 
our territories, restoring Canada to France, and the Floridas 
to Spain. . . . 

On the ether side it was urged by J. Adams, Lee, Wythe, 
and others 

That the question was not whether, by a declaration of Inde- 
pendence, we should make ourselves what we are not; but 
whether we should declare a fact which already exists: . . . 

That the people wait for us to lead the way; That they are 
in favor of the measure, tho the instructions given by some 
of their representatives are not: . . . That it would be vain to 
wait either weeks or months for perfect unanimity, since it was 
impossible that all men should ever become of one sentiment on 
any question : . . . 



47. W. C. Ford, Journals of Continental Congress, \, 425. 



200 AMERICAN HISTORY 

That a declaration of Independence alone could render it 
consistent with European delicacy for European powers to treat 
with us . . . ; That tho France and Spain may be jealous 
of our rising power, they must think it will be much more for- 
midable with the addition of Great Britain; and will therefore 
see it to their interest to prevent a coalition. . . : 

That it is necessary to lose no time in opening a trade for 
our people, who will want clothes, and will want money too 
for the paiment of taxes. ...*'* 

American Tory Protest against Independence (From a pam- 
phlet of 1776, signed " Candidus "). " The scheme of Independ- 
ence is ruinous, delusive, and impracticable. . . . Reconcilia- 
tion on liberal principles with Great Britain would be exalted 
policy ; . . . circumstanced as we are, permanent Liberty and 
true Happiness can only be obtained by Reconciliation with 
that Kingdom." *» 

Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). ". . . We 
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un- 
alienable Rights, that among these, are Life, Liberty and the 
pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these rights. Govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers 
from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form 
of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right 
of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new 
Government. . . . 

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history 
of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object 
the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To 
prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. [Then fol- 
lows an enumeration of twenty-eight grievances against the king 
and Parliament]. . . . 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of 
America, in General Congress assembled, ... do, in the Name 
and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, sol- 



48. From Thomas Jefferson's "Notes on Debates in the Continental Con 
gress" (P. L. Ford, Writings of Jefferson, 1, 18-29). 

49. Quoted in M. C. Tyler, Literary History of the American Revolution. 
I. 479. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 201 

emnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and 
of Right, ought to be Free and Independent States. . . ." ^** 

c. Establishment of New, Independent State Governments, 
1776-1777: 

Samuel Adams to Bcnj. Kent (July 27, 1776). " New Gov- 
[ernmenjts are now erecting in the several American States 
under the Authority of the people. Monarchy seems to be gen- 
erally exploded. And it is not a little surprizing to me, that the 
Aristocratic Spirit which appeared to have taken deep Root in 
some of them, now gives place to that of Democracy." ^^ 

Thomas J eifer son to Benj. Franklin (Aug. 13, 1777). "With 
respect to the State of Virginia in particular, the people seem to 
have laid aside the monarchical, atid taken up the republican 
government, with as much ease as would have attended their 
throwing off an old, and putting on a new suit of clothes. Not 
a single throe has attended this important transformation." ^^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What was the chief purpose of each of the three Par- 
liamentary acts of 1764-1765 ? (2) How many of these acts did 
the colonists complain against, and what in each act? (3) To 
what kind of "rights" did the colonists chiefly appeal in their 
opposition to Parliamentary taxation in 1765? (4) By whom 
did the colonists ask that they be taxed? (5) Where only did 
the colonists think they could be properly "represented"? (6) 
By how many and what different means did colonists attempt 
to bring about the repeal of the Stamp Act? (7) How much of 
its "change of policy" did Great Britain abandon in 1765? (8) 
Did Parliament give up the right to tax in 1766? (9) To which 
act of 1764-1765 does each act of 1767 correspond? (10) Did 
colonists appeal to any new or different kind of "rights" in 1767 
than in 1765? (11) Against what new things were objections 
raised in 1767? (12) In what ways did repeal of Revenue Act 
of 1767 resemble repeal of Stamp Act of 1765? (13) In what 
way did Great Britain make a third attempt to force taxation 
upon the colonies? (14) How did it endeavor to compel their 
obedience (1774) when they resisted? (15) Against whom was 



so. W. C. Ford, Journals of Continental Congress, V, 510-SH, 
51. H. A. Gushing, Writings of Samuel Adams, III, 305. 
,52. P. L. Ford, Writings of Thomas /efferson, II, 131. 



202 AMERICAN HISTORY 

each of the Parliamentary acts of 1774 directed? (16) Were 
all of the colonists agreed as to how the acts of 1774 should 
be received? (17) Did the acts of 1774 accomplish their in- 
tended effects? (18) Wh}' did the colonists take up arms 
against Great Britain in 1775? (19) Why did the colonists 
declare independence from Great Britain in 1776? TZO) Where 
did the colonists find the right to declare themselves independ- 
ent? (21) What different groups or classes of colonists op- 
posed independence, and for what reasons? (22) What changes 
took place in the State governments after the Declaration of 
Independence? 

II. (1) Compare as carefully and fully as possible the Amer- 
ican and English interpretations of "representation." (2) Make 
a list of all the English arguments in favor of coercing the 
Americans, and opposite each place the answer made by either 
the Americans or the English friends of America. (3) Make 
a chronological list of the British acts or actions and American 
responses leading from the Tea Act of 1773 to the Declaration 
of Independence in 1776. 

III. (1) What caused Great Britain to attempt changes in 
its colonial policy after 1763? (2) Why did it renew the at- 
tempt in 1767 after having abandoned it in 1766? (3) Why in 
1773? (4) What men, parties, and classes in England took the 
American side? Why in each case? (5) Why did English and 
Americans differ so widely in their interpretation of "represen- 
tation"? 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent, 87-114, 121-126: 
Ashley. 135-160; Channing (revision 1908), 131-184; Hart. 134- 
160; James & Sanford, 142-160; Macdonald's Johnston, 98-130; 
McLaughlin, 169-196; McMaster, 110-134; Montgomery (re- 
vision 1905), 176-191, 197-202; Thomas (revision 1903), 109- 
13«. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 203 

SECTION II 
THE MILITARY STRUGGLE— 1776-1783 

British and colcMiial troops met at Lexington antl Con- 
cord in April, 1775, and out of that conflict grew the colo- 
nial siege of Boston and attempted invasion of Canada the 
following winter (1775-1776). But the real military strug- 
gle of the Revolution began with the British attack on Long 
Island in the fall of 1776. For two years and a half the war 
then centered in the northern states, the British attempting 
to obtain control of the Hudson Valley, separate the north- 
ern and southern groups of states, and then suppress one 
group or section at a time. This period of the war ended 
in American victory, the obtaining of an alliance with 
France, and the formation of the union or Confederation of 
the States. 

Following their failure in the north, the British shifted 
the main theater of war to the south after 1778, seeking to 
conquer the states one by one. For two years and a half 
they were almost uniformly successful ; but in 1780 the tide 
at last began to turn in American favor, and in 1781 the war 
ended with the American victory at Yorktown. 

A year's contest over the terms of peace followed, dur- 
ing which Spanish and French negotiators unsuccessfull\ 
attempted to prevent American possession of the region be 
tween the Alleghanies and the Mississippi. 

In the extracts dealing with campaigns, no endeavor ha? 
been made to present the detailed military movements, but 
merely to indicate the difficulties under whicli the .American 
army labored, and the iiupressions produced by their five 
years of alternating defeat and victory. 



204 AMERICAN HISTORY 

1. THE WAR IN THE NORTH, 1776-1778 
a. The Campaign of 1776. 

Extracts from the Correspondence of General Washington 
(Sept, 2-Dec. 27, 1776). Sept. 2, 1776 (after battle of Long 
Island). "Our situation is truly distressing. The check . . . 
sustained on the 27th ultimo has dispirited too great a propor- 
tion of our troops. . . . The militia . . . are dismayed, intract- 
able, and impatient to return. Great numbers of them have gone 
off ; in some instances, almost by whole regiments. ... I am 
obliged to confess my want of confidence in the generality of the 
troops. ... I am . . . fully convinced . . . that our liber- 
ties must of necessity be greatly hazarded if not entirely lost, if 
their defence is left to any but a permanent standing army; I 
mean, one to exist during the war." 

Sept. 8, 1776. "[H]istory, our own experience, the advice of 
our ablest friends in Europe, the fears of our enemy, and even 
the declarations of Congress, demonstrate, that on our side the 
war should be defensive, . . . that we should on all occasions 
avoid a general action. ... I am sensible a retreating army 
is encircled with difficulties ; that declining engagements sub- 
jects a general to reproach. . . . But, when the fate of America 
may be at stake ... I can not think it safe or wise to adopt 
a diff"erent system. . . ." 

Sept. 22, 1776. " The dependence, which Congress have 
placed upon the militia, ... I fear will totally ruin our cause. 
Being subject to no control themselves, they introduce disorder 
among the troops . . . and . . . abominable desertions." 

Sept. 24, 1776. "To place any dependence upon militia is 
assuredly resting upon a broken staff. . . . The jealousy of a 
standing army, and the evils apprehended from one, are remote, 
and, in my judgment, ... not at all to be dreaded; but the 
consequence of wanting one, ... is certain and inevitable 
ruin." 

Oct. 15, 1776. "Every day's intelligence from . . . this 
State [N. Y.] mentions plots and conspiracies, which are agi- 
tated among the disaffected.'" 

Nov. 19, 1776. " It is a matter of great gri^f and surprise 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 205 

to me to find the different States so slow and inattentive to that 
essential business of levying their quotas of men. . . . [I]t is 
impossible ... to give you any idea ... of the constant 
perplexities, ... of short enlistments, . . . [and] the dif- 
ferent States . . . quarreling about the appointments. ... I 
am wearied almost to death. . . ." 

Dec. 12, 1776. "[Y]ou will have heard of the melancholy 
situation of our affairs. . . . With a handful of men, com- 
pared to the enemy's force, we have been pushed through the 
Jcrsies, without being able to make the smallest opposition. . . ." 

Dec. 15, 1776. " The spirit of disaffection, which appears in 
this country [eastern Pennsylvania] deserves . . . serious 
attention. Instead of giving any assistance in repelling the 
enemy, the militia have not only refused to obey your general 
summons, . . . but, I am told, exult at the approach of the 
enemy, and on our late misfortunes." 

Dec. 18, 1776. " I think the game is pretty near up, owing 
. . . principally to the policy of short enlistments, and placing 
too great a dependence on the militia. . . ." 

Dec. 27, 1776. " I have the pleasure of congratulating you 
upon the success of an enterprise . . . against a detachment of 
the enemy lying in Trenton. . . . Our loss is very trifling in- 
deed, only two officers and one or two privates wounded. . . . 
In justice to the officers and men, I must add. that their be- 
haviour upon this occasion, reflects the highest honor upon them. 
The difficulty of passing the river in a very severe night, and 
their march through a violent storm of snow and hail, did not 
iti the least abate their ardor: but when they came to the charge, 
each seemed to vie with the other in pressing forward ; and were 
I to give a preference to any particular corps, I should do great 
injustice to the others." ^ 

b. The Campaign of 1777-1778: 

Extracts from the Correspondence of General Washington 
(Jan. 19, 1777-Aug. 20, 1778). Jan, 19, 1777. "The fluctuating 
state of an army composed chiefly of militia bids fair to reduce 

1. J. Sparks. Wri.ings of Washington, I\', "3. 85-86, 104-105, 113. US, 
152, 183-184, 215, 223, 231, 246-248. 



206 AMERICAN HISTORY 

us to the situation, in which we were some Httle time ago; that 
is, of scarce having any army at all. . . .' 

Feb. 20, 1777. " I have often mentioned . . . the distress 
I am . . . laid under by the application of French officers for 
commissions. . . . This evil ... is a growing one . . . for 
. . . they are coming in swarms. . . . There will ... be a 
necessity of providing for them or discountenancing them. To 
do the first is difficult; and the last disagreeable. ... if they 
are men of merit; and it is possible to distinguish these from 
mere adventurers, of whom I am convinced there is the greater 
number." 

Mar. 1, 1777. " During the last campaign, the greatest part 
ot the armv were, at a considerable Continental expense, well 
armed. . . . But . . . most of the regiments, going off at 
different times, . . . took off with them many public arms. 
... I fear we shall not be able to furnish a sufficient number 
for our soldiers." 

Mar. 12, 1777. " The disaffection of Pennsylvania, which I 
fear is much beyond anything you [General Schuyler] have con- 
ceived, and the depression of the people of this State [N. J.], 
render a strong support necessary to prevent a systematical sub- 
mission." 

April 21 , 1777. " I am well convinced, that the amazing de- 
sertions, which have of late prevailed among our troops, pro- 
ceed entirely from their not being regularly paid." 

May 17, 1777. "[What does] Congress expect I am to do 
with the many foreigners they have at different times promoted 
to the rank of field officers ...?... [Our] officers think it 
exceedingly hard, after they have toiled in this service, . . . 
to have strangers put over them, whose merit perhaps is not 
equal to their own. but whose effrontery will take no denial." 

May 23, 1777. " Of late several of our officers have broken 
their paroles and stolen away. . . . The reason . . . assigned 
... is the want of money and necessaries. I regret that this 
plea is too well founded." 

July 15. 1777. " We should never despair. Our situation 
has before been unpromising, and has changed for the better; 
so, I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 207 

put forth new exertions, and proportion our efforts to the exi- 
gency of the times." 

Sept. 22, \777. " The distressed situation of the army for 
want of blankets, and many necessary articles of clothing, is 
truly deplorable ; and must inevitably be destruction to it, unless 
a speedy remedy be applied." 

Oct. 19, 1777. " The defeat of General Burgoyne is a most 
important event, and . . . must afford the highest satisfaction 
to every well-affected American." 

Nov. 13, 1777. " The disaffected and lukewarm in this State, 
in whom unhappily it too much abounds, taking advantage of 
the distraction in the government, prevented those vigorous 
exertions, which an invaded State ought to have yielded. . . . 
How different the case in the northern department [against 
Burgoyne] ! There the States of New York and New England, 
resolving to crush Burgoyne, continued pouring in their troops, 
till the surrender of that army." 

Valley Forge, Dec. 23, 1777. " I am . . . convinced be- 
yond a doubt, that, unless some great and capital change sud- 
denly takes place . . . this army must inevitably be reduced 
to one nr other of these three things : starve, dissolve, or 
disperse in order to obtain subsistance in the best manner they 
can . . . ; three or four days of bad weather would prove our 
destruction . . . : few men having more than one shirt, many 
only the moiety of one, and some none at all. In addition . . . 
we have ... no less than two thousand eight hundred and 
ninety-eight men now in camp unfit for duty, because they are 
barefoot and otherwise naked . . . numbers having been 
obliged, and still are, to sit uj) all night by fires, instead of tak- 
ing comfortable rest in a natural and common way." 

Valley Forge, Feb. 16, 1778. " For some days past, there 
has been little less than a famine in camp. A part of the army 
has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three 
or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we can not 
enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the 
soldiery, that they have not been ere this excited by their suf- 
fering to a general nuitiny and dispersion. Strong symptoms, 
however, of discontent have appeared. . . ." 

Valley Forge, March 20, 1778. " By death and desertion 



208 AMERICAN HISTORY 

we have lost a good many men, . . . and have encountered 
every species of hardship, that cold, wet, and hunger, and want 
of clothes, were capable of producing." 

April 21, 1778. " Men may speculate as they will; they may 
talk of patriotism. . . . But ... a great and lasting war can 
never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by 
a prospect of interest, of some reward." 

May 25, 1778. " The favorable issue of our negotiation with 
France is a matter of heartfelt joy. big with important events, 
and it must, I should think, chalk out a plain and easy road to 
independence." 

Aug. 20, 1778. " The arrival of the French fleet upon the 
coast of America is a great and striking event ; but the opera- 
tions of it have been injured by a number of unforeseen and 
unfavorable circumstances, which, though they ought not to 
distract from the merit and good intention of our great ally, 
have nevertheless lessened the importance of its services in a 
great degree. ... It is not a little pleasing, nor less wonder- 
ful to contemplate, that after two years' manoeuvering and 
undergoing the strangest vicissitudes, that perhaps ever attended 
any one contest since the creation, both armies are brought 
back to the very point they set out from, and that the offending 
party at the beginning is now reduced to the use of the spade 
and pickaxe for defence." ^ 

2. AID FROM EUROPE THE FRENCH ALLIANCE 

a. American Request for European Assistance; Response up 
to 1778: 

Congressional Instructions to American Coiumissioners to 
France. Sept. 24, 1776. "There is delivered to you herewith 
a Plan of a Treaty [of alliance] with . . . France. . . . It is 
the wish of Congress that the Treaty should be concluded. . . . 
If you shall find that to be impracticable, . . . You are desired 
to obtain, as early as possible, a publick acknowledgment of the 
Independence of these States . . . by the Court of France." 



2. J. Sparks, Writings of Washington. IV, 283, 328, 337-338, 360, 402. 424, 
431. 493; V, 67, 104, 146, 197-199, 239, 290, 323, 379; VI, 13-14, 35-36. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 209 

Oct. 16, 1776. " Whilst you arc negotiating . . . with . . . 
France, you will have opportunities of conversing frequently 
with the ministers and agents of other european princes and 
states. . . . You shall endeavor ... to obtain from them a 
recognition of our independency and sovereignty, a*nd to con- 
clude treaties of peace, amity and Commerce. ... If that can 
not be effected, you shall, to the utmost of your power, prevent 
their taking part with Great Britain in the war, ... or en- 
tering into offensive alliances with that king. . . ." ■* 

Extracts from the Reports of the American Commissioners 
(1776-1778). Jan. 17, 1777. "The hearts of the French are 
universally for us, and the cry is strong for immediate war with 
Britain. . . ." Feb. 6, 1777. V With a universal good will to 
our cause and country . . . there is mixed a universal appre- 
hension that we shall be reduced to submission, which often 
chills the purposes of supporting us. . . . [T]hat which makes 
the greatest impression in our favor here is the prodigious suc- 
cess of our armed ships and privateers. ..." Mar. 12. 1777. 
"The desire that military officers here [France], of all ranks, 
have of going into the service of the United States is so gen- 
eral and so strong as to be quite amazing. We are hourly 
fatigued with their applications and offers. . . . All Europe 
is for us. Our Articles of Confederation being . . . translated 
and published here, have given an appearance of consistence 
and firmness of the American States and Government that be- 
gins to make them considerable. . . . Tyranny is so generally 
established in the rest of the world, that the prospect of an 
asylum in America tor those who love liberty, gives general 
joy, and our cause is esteemed the cause of all mankind. . . . 
Every nation in Europe wishes to see Britain humbled, having 
all in their turns been offended by her insolence. . . ." May 
1, 1777. "The people of this country [France] are al.nost 
unanimously in our favor. The government has its reasons 
for postponing a war but is making daily the most diligent 
preparations wherein Spain goes hand in hand. . . . The con 
duct of those princes of Germany who have sold the blood of 
their people [the Hessian troops] has subjected them to the 



3. W. C. Ford. Journals of the Continental Congress, V, 813. 817; VI, 884. 



210 AMERICAN HISTORY 

contempt and odium of all Europe. . . . The King of Prussia's 
humor of obliging- those princes to pay him the same toll per 
head for the men they drive through his dominions as used to 
be paid him for their cattle, ... is generally spoken of with 
approbation. . . ." Sept. 8, 1777. " This court continues the 
same conduct that it has held ever since our arrival. ... It 
professes to England a resolution to observe all treaties. . . . 
To us it privately professes a real friendship, wishes success 
to our cause, winks at the supplies we obtain here as much as 
it can without giving open grounds of complaint to England, 
privately atTords us very essential aids, and goes on preparing 
for war . . ." Oct. 6, 1777. "The powers of Europe seem to 
be waiting for the determination of the [Erench] court . . . 
respecting the acknowledgment of the independence of America. 
As soon as she sets the example, it will ... be followed by 
all those whose interest makes them wish for the diminution 
of the power of England. ..." Jan. 5, 1778. "[TJhe news of 
Burgoyne's surrender . . . has made a strong sensation in our 
favor, . . . [but] Spain will not enter into any negotiation 
till we have concluded the business here [with France]. ..." 
Feb. 8, 1778. "We have now the great satisfaction of acquaint 
ing you . . . that the treaties with France are at length com- 
pleted and signed. The first is a treaty of amity and commerce 
. . . ; the other is a treaty of alliance. . . . Spain being slow, 
there is a separate and secret clause, by which she is to be re- 
ceived into the alliance upon requisition, and there is no doubt 
of the event. When we mention the good will of this nation 
[France] to our cause, we may add that of all Europe, which 
having been offended by the pride and insolence of Britain, 
wishes to see its power diminished. . . .""'' 

b. The French Treaty of Alliance, and Its Effect in England and 
America: 

Treaty of French A.'llaiice (Feb. 8-July 17, 1778). "Article 
II The essential and direct end of the present defensive alli- 
ance is to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty, and in- 
dependence absolute and unlimited, of the . . . United States. 



4. Francis Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolu- 
tion, 11, 249, 261-262, 286-287, 311, 389, 403, 466, 490-491. 



REVOLUTION AXD INDEPENDENCE 211 

. . . Article \'I. The . . . king renounces forever the posses- 
sion of . . . any part of the continent of North America. . . . 
Article VH. If His . . . Majesty shall . . . attack any of the 
islands situated in the Gulph of Mexico, or near that Gulph, 
which are at present under the power of Great Britain, all the 
said isles, in case of success, shall appertain to the Crown of 
France. Article VTII. Neither of the two parties shall con- 
clude either truce or peace with Great Britain without the for- 
mal consent of the other first obtained. . . . " "' 

lixtracts fro}ii tlie Reports of the American Coiinnissioners 
(1778). Feb. 16. 1778. " By our late advices from England the 
nunisters began to be alarmed for their country. . . . Many 
. . . seem to look upon a French war at this juncture, when so 
much of their force is abroad and their public credit so shaken, 
as immediate ruin." Feb. 28, 1778. "[0]n the 17th Lord North 
made a long discourse, acknowledging the errors of their for- 
mer conduct in the war with America, and proposing to obtain 
peace by the means of two bills. . . . [W]e are confident that 
they will not answer the purpose of dividhig in order to subju- 
gate, for which they are evidently intended." " 

British Oifer of Conciliation (1778). " Whereas taxation by 
the Parliament of Great Britain, for the purpose of raising a 
revenue in his Majesty's colonies . . . has been foimd by ex- 
perience to occasion great uneasiness and disorders . . . ; it 
is hereby . . . enacted, . . . That the King and parliament 
. . . will not impose any duty, tax, or assessment whatever . . . 
in any of his Majesty's colonies . . . except only such duties 
as it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of com- 
merce. . . ." 

" For the quieting ... of divers . . . apprehensions of 
danger to their liberties and rights, which have alarmed many 
of his Majesty's subjects in the colonies, . . . and for a full 
manifestation of the gracious purposes of his Majesty, and his 
parliament, to maintain and secure all his subjects in the clear 
and perfect enjoyment of their liberties and rights; lie it en- 



5. Treaties and Conventions U. S. (Wash.. 1889), 307-309. 

6. Francis Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolu- 
tion, II, 496. 507-508. 



212 AMERICAN HISTORY 

acted . . . That it shall ... be lawful for his Majesty . . . 
to authorize . . . five . . . persons ... to treat . . . with 
. . . the said colonies, . . . and ... to authorize . . . the 
said commissioners ... to suspend . . . the operation and 
effect of any act or acts of parliament which have passed since 
. . . [1763], which relate to any of his Majesty's said colo- 
nies. . . . " ^ 

John Jay to Gouverncur Morris (Apr. 29, 1778). "The in- 
fluence of Lord North's conciliatory plan is happily counterbal- 
anced by the intelligence from France. There was danger of 
its creating divisions." * 

c. European Attitude towards America from 1778 to the Close 
of the War: 

Extracts froni the Reports of the American Commissioners 
(1778-1782). Feb. 28, 1778. " The journeys . . . made . . . 
have given ... an opportunity of knowing the general dis- 
position of Europe. . . . There never was one in which the 
harmony of opinion was so universal ; from the prince to the 
peasant there is but one voice, one wish^ — the liberty of Amer- 
ica, and the humiliation of Great Britain. . . ." May 9, 1778. 
" Spain and the German powers are yet undecided in regard to 
us. I do not think our enemies will succeed with Holland. . . ." 
Aug. 5, 1778. " Loans in Europe will be very difficult to obtain. 
The powers at war, or on the eve of war, have such vast de- 
mands, and offer terms so much better than ours, that nothing 
but sheer benevolence to our cause can induce any person to 
lend us. ..." Oct. 19, 1778. "Our affairs in Holland, both 
as to the treaty and loan, are in a promising state. The King 
of Naples and of Sicily has declared . . . his ports are open 
to all vessels belonging to the United States. ..." Nov. 7, 
1778. "[W]e see no probability of England's forming any alli- 
ance against America in all Europe, or, indeed, against France. 
..." Jan. 5, 1779. "The late proceedings in Holland discover 
that the English party have gained ground there. There does 
not at present seem any probability of an accommodation in 
Germany. . . ." Feb. 25, 1779. "[T]he King of Prussia has 



7. D. Pickering, British Statutes at Large, XXXII, 4-6. 

8. H. P. Johnston, Correspondence of John Jay, I, 179. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 213 

formally engaged . . . that the merchants of North America 
. . . should be received [in Prussian ports] in all respects as 
the merchants of other countries. . . ." June 21, 1779. "Spain 
has declared against Great Britain. . . ." "Aug. 4, 1779. 
" Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, . . . the northern powers, 
have . . . [made] declarations against the right of England to 
interrupt their navigation, and [are] . . . arming for the pro- 
tection of their commerce on the ocean. . . . [These are] un- 
equivocal proofs of their opinion concerning the right in our 
contest and of their intentions not to interfere against us." 
Nov. 30, 1779. "[The English] are using every means with 
Russia and the German princes to procure troops, . . . but 1 
can not learn that they have succeeded. ... It is certain that 
Holland will remain neuter, and under that neutrality furnish 
us supplies. . . ." May 8, 1780. " The king [of England] says 
that all the ports of France and Spain are blocked by his fleet. 
The empress [of Russia] says that none of them are, . . . and 
. . . has armed ... to maintain this construction of the word 
[blockaded]. ... If the king gives up his interpretation . . . 
there is an end forever to the naval superiority of Great Britain. 
If he maintains it, it must be by a war against all the nations 
that use the seas. ..." July 14, 1780. "The English . . . 
fill all the newspapers of Europe with the [accounts] ... of 
their triumphant progress in Carolina; and we are unable to 
obtain a syllable from any part of America to contradict or ex- 
plain it. ..." July 22, 1780. "[T]he maritime powers [of 
Europe] are intent upon their commercial and naval interests, 
. . . and upon the rights of neutral nations. . . . America is 
universally considered by them as such a magazine of raw mate- 
rials for manufactures, such a source of commerce, . . . that 
they are determined that no one power in Europe shall ever 
again monopolize it. We must, however, fight our own battles 
and bear our expenses. ..." May 16, 1781. The British 
ministry are exhausting all the resources of their subtilty . . . 
to excite jealousies and divisions among the neutral, as well as 
belligerant powers [of Europe]. . . ." Dec. 4, 1781. "The . . . 
news of General Washington's triumphs in Viro^inia [York- 
town], and of the friendly and effectual aid of the Counts de 
Rochambeau and de Grasse, have made a great impression . . . 



214 AMERICAN HISTORY 

all over Europe. ..." May 13, 1782. "The independence of 
America has been acknowledged by this [the Dutch J republic. 
. . ." May 16, 1782. " The American cause has gained a sig- 
nal triumph. ... It has . . . torn from her [the English] 
bosom an intimate, affectionate friend, and a faithful ally of a 
a hundred years [Holland]. . . . " ■' 

John Adams to Francis Dana (Nov. 8, 1782). "Great Britain 
is the third power in Europe to acknowledge our independ- 
ence." ^^ 

3. CONFEDERATION AND THE WESTERN LANDS CLAIMS 
a. Virginia's Claim to the Western Lands, 1776: 

Last Section of Ihc first Virginia Constitution (June 29, 
1776). ■■ Tlie territories, contained within the Charters . . . 
[of] the Colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North and South 
Carolina, are hereby . . . released ... to the people of these 
Colonies. . . . The western and northern extent of N'irginia 
shall, in other respects, stand as fixed by the charter of King 
James I [in 1609J. . . 



"1 1 



b. Congress Making the Confederation: 

Proceedings of Congress (June-July, 1776). June 11, 1776. 
" Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and digest 
the form of a confederation "to be entered into between these 
colonies." June 12, 1776. " Resolved, That the committee . . . 
consist of a member from each colony. . . ." July 12, 1776. 
" The committee appointed to prepare articles of confederation 
bi ought in a draught, which was read. ..." '-' 

Congressional Debates on Articles of Confederation (July- 
Aug., 1776). "Chase [Md.]. No Colony has a right to go to 
the South Sea ; they never had ; they can't have. It would not 
be safe to the rest. . . . Jefferson [Va.]. What security have 
we, that the Congress will not curtail the present settlements of 



9. Francis Wharton. Diplomatic Corresjiondence of the .\merican Revolu- 
tion. II, 510, 573. 677, 800, 831; III, 13, 66, 229, 285, 417, 662, 857. 875; 
C. V. Adams, Works of John Adams, VII, 418, 488. 583, 587. 

10. C. F. Adams, ^^'orks of John Adams, \'II. 665. 

11. Poore, Constitutions and Charters. II, 1912. 

12. W. C. Ford, Journals of the Continen.al Congress, V, 431, 433, 546 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 215 

the States ? I have no doubt that the Colonies will limit them- 
selves. Wilson [Pa.] [CJlaims to the South Sea . . . are 
extravagant. . . . Pennsylvania . . . will not confederate 
unless those claims are cut off. I wish the Colonies themselves 
would cut off those claims. Chase. South Carolina claims 
to the South Sea; so does North [Carolina], Virginia and 
Massachusetts. . . ." 

Rutledge [S. C] and Lynch oppose giving the power of reg- 
ulating the trade and managing all affairs of the Indians to 

Congress Gwinnett is in favor of Congress having such 

power. . . . Lynch. Congress may regulate the trade, if they 
will indenmify . . . [the individual colonies] against the ex- 
pense of keeping peace with the Indians, or defending us against 
them. . . . Wilson. No lasting peace will be [made] with the 
Indians, unless made by some one body. . . . None should 
trade with the Indians without a license from Congress. . . . "' 

" Dr Franklin [Pa.] moves that votes should be in propor- 
tion to numbers. Mr. Middleton [S. C] moves that the vote 
should be according to what we pay. Sherman [Conn.] thinks 
we . . . are representatives of States, not individuals. . . . 
Dr. Rush [Pa.]. . . . We . . . represent the people. . . . 
We are now a new nation. If we vote by numbers, liberty will 
be always safe. . . . S. Hopkins [R.I.]. A momentous ques- 
tion ; many difficulties on each side ; four larger, five lesser, 
four stand indifferent. Virginia, Massachusetts. Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, make more than half the people. ... It can't be 
expected that nine Colonies will give way to be governed by 
four. The safety of the whole depends upon the distinctions 
of Colonies. ..." ^''' 

" [T]hose articles were debated which determined the 
proportion or quota of money which each state should fur- 
nish to the connnon treasury. . . . Mr. Chase [Md] moved 
that the quotas should be 5xed, not by number of inhabitants of 
every condition, but by that of the 'white inhabitants.' . . . 
Negroes are property. . . . There is no more reason ... for 
taxing the Southern states on the farmer's head, and on his 
slave's head, than the Northern ones on their farmers' heads and 



13. John Adams, Notes on Debates (W. C. ]^ord. Journals of the Con- 
tinen>al Congress. VI, 1076-1083. 



216 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the heads of their cattle, that . . . would . . . tax the 
Southern states according to their numbers and their wealth 
conjunctly, while the Northern would be taxed on numbers only. 
. . . John Adams [Mass.]. . . . certainly 500 freemen pro- 
duce no more profits . . . than 500 slaves, therefore the state 
in which are the labourers called freemen should be taxed no 
more than that in which they are called slaves. . . . Mr. Har- 
rison [Va.] proposed a compromise, that two slaves should be 
counted as one freeman. Mr. Wilson [Pa.] said . . . slaves 
increase the profits of a state, which the Southern states mean 
to take to themselves ; that they also increase the burthen of 
defence, which would of course fall so much heavier on the 
Northern. . . . slaves occupy the places of freemen. . . . 
dismiss your slaves and freemen will take their places, it is 
our duty to lay every discouragement on the importation of 
slaves. . . . Dr. Witherspoon [N. J.] was of opinion that the 
value of lands and houses was the best estimate of the wealth 
of a nation. . . ." ^* 

The Articles of Confederation (Adopted by Congress, Nov. 
15, 1777; ratified by the States, 1778-1781). "Articles of Con- 
federation and Perpetual Union between the States. . . . 

Art. 2. Each State retains its sovereignty . . . and every 
power . . . not by this confederation expressly delegated to 
the United States. . . . 

Art. 4. The . . . free inhabitants of each of these States 
. . . shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free 
citizens in the several states. . . . 

Art. 5. . . . [D]elegates shall be annually appointed in such 
manner as the legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in 
Congress. . . . No State shall be represented in Congress by 
less than two, nor by more than seven members. ... In deter- 
mining questions ... in Congress . . . each State shall have 
one vote. ... 

Art. 8. All . . . expences, that shall be incurred for the 
common defence or general welfare . . . shall be defrayed out 
of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several 



14. Thos. Jefferson, Notes on Debates (VV. C. Ford, Journals of the Con- 
tinental Congress, VI, 1098-1101. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 217 

slates, in proportion to the value of all land within each State, 
granted to or surveyed for any person. . . . 

Art. 9. . . . Congress . . . shall have the sole and exclusive 
right ... of determining on peace and war, ... of sending 
and receiving ambassadors ; entering into treaties and alliances. 
. . . [Congress] shall also be the last resort on appeal in all 
disputes and differences . . . between two or more states. . . . 
Congress . . . shall also have the sole and exclusive right . . . 
of regulating . . . coin, . . . weights and measures, . . . 
trade and ... all affairs with the Indians . . . ; establishing 
and regulating post offices . . . ; appointing all officers of the 
land forces . . . excepting regimental officers . . . ; appoint- 
ing all the officers of the naval forces . . . ; making rules for 
the . . . regulation of the said land and naval forces. . . . 
Congress . . . shall [also] have authority to appoint a com- 
mittee to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated ' a 
Committee of the States,' and to consist of one delegate from 
each State; and to appoint such other committees and civil offi- 
cers as may be necessary for manageing the general affairs of 
the United States . . . ; to borrow money, or emit bills [of] 
credit . . . , to build and equip a navy . . . [etc.]. . . . Con- 
gress . . . shall never [do any of the above things] unless nine 
States assent to the same; nor shall a question on any other 
point, except for adjourning from day to day. be determined, 
unless by the votes of a majority of the United States, in Con- 
gress assembled. . . . 

Art. 13. ... [T]he articles of this confederation shall be 
inviolably observed by every State, and the union shall be per- 
petual ; nor shall any alteration ... be made in any of them 
. . . unless . . . agreed to in . . . Congress . . . and . . . 
afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State. . . ." ^^ 

c. The Western Lands Question Delays Confederation, 1778- 
1781: 

Maryloid's Refusal to Ratify the Articles of Confederation 
(Instructions to Maryland Delegates to Congress, Dec. 15, 
1778). "[W]e think it our duty to instruct you as followeth on 
the subject of the confederation, a subject in which, unforta- 



15. \\'. C. Ford. Journals Continental Congress, IX, 907-925. 



218 AMERICAN HISTORY 

nately, a supposed difference of interest has produced an almost 
equal division of sentiments among the several states composing 
the union. ... Is it possible that those states, who are ambi- 
tiously grasping at territories, to which in our judgment they 
have not the least shadow of exclusive right, will use with . . . 
moderation the increase of wealth and power derived from these 
territories . . . ? we think not ; we are convinced the same 
spirit which hath prompted them to inlist on a claim so extrava- 
gant . . . will urge them on . . . to oppress by open force 
their less wealthy and less powerful neighbors. . . . 

Virginia, by selling on the most moderate terms a small pro- 
portion of the lands in question, would draw into her treasury 
vast sums of money, and in proportion . . . would be enabled 
to lessen her taxes; lands comparatively cheap and taxes com- 
paratively low . . . would quickly drain the . . . [landless] 
state . . . of its . . . inhabitants, its wealth. . . . 

We are convinced policy and justice require that a country 
unsettled at the commencement of this war, claimed 1)y the 
British crown, ... if wrested from the common enemy by the 
blood and treasure of the thirteen states, should be considered as 
a conunon property, ... to be parcelled out by Congress into 
free, convenient and independent governments. . . . Thus 
convinced, we ... do instruct you not to agree to the con- 
federation, unless an article or articles be added thereto in con- 
formity with our declaration. . . ."^^ 

Recommendation of Cession (Congress, Sept. 6, 1780). "[T]t 
appears . . . advisable to press upon those states which can 
remove the embarrassments respecting the western country, a 
liberal surrender of a portion of their territorial claims, since 
they can not be preserved entire without endangering the sta- 
bility of the general confederacy. . . ."'^' 

Congressional Pledge (Oct. 10. 1780). "Resolved, . . . 
That the unappropriated lands that may be ceded ... to the 
United States . . . shall be disposed of for the conunon benefit 
of the United States, and be settled and formed into distinct 
r(publican states, which shall become members of the federal 



16. Way & Gideon. Tounials of the Continental Congress. Ill, 281-283 

17. Same, p. 516- 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 219 

union, and have the same rights of sovereignty, freedom and 
independence as the other states." ^"^ 

Proceedings of Congress (Mar. 1, 1781). "The delegates 
for the state of New York executed in Congress the following 
act ...:... we do .. . cede . . . to . . . such of the 
states as are or shall become parties to the articles of confed- 
eration, all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim, of 
. . . New York ... to all lands and territories to the north- 
ward and westward of the [described] boundaries. . . ." 

"... the delegates for the state of Maryland . . . did 
sign and ratify the . . . articles, by which act the confedera- 
tion of the United States of America was completed. . . ."^'* 

4. THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 1778-1781 

Extracts from tlie Correspondence of General Jl'asliingto)i 
(1778-1781). Aug 28, 1778. "By several late accounts from 
New York, there is reason to believe the enemy are on the 
point of some important movement. . . . Whether they medi- 
tate any enterprise against this army [at White Plains, N. Y.], 
mean to transfer the war elsewhere, or intend to embrace the 
present opportunity of evacuating the continent, is as yet un- 
certain." 

Sept. 4, 1778. " I think it may be presumed, that another 
campaign will take place in America. . . . \N'here the theatre 
of war may be. must be a matter of conjecture." 

Oct. 4, 1778. " Can we carry on the war much longer? Cer- 
tainly not, unless some measures can be devised and speedily 
executed to restore the credit of our currenc}', restrain extor- 
tion, and punish forestallers." 

Dec. 30, 1778. " If I were to be called upon to draw a pic- 
ture of the times and of men, from what I have seen, heard, and 
in part know, I should in one word say, that idleness, dissipa- 
tion, and extravagance seem to have laid fast hold of most of 
them ; that speculation, peculation, and an insatiable thirst for 



18. Way & Gideon, Journals of the Continental Congress. Ill, 535- 

19. Same. III. pp. .S83-586. 



220 AMERICAN HISTORY 

riches seem to have got the best of every other consideration, 
and ahiiost of every order of men; that party disputes and per- 
sonal quarrels are the great business of the day; w^hilst the 
momentous concerns of an empire, a great and accumulating 
debt, ruined finances, depreciated money, and want of credit, . . . 
are but secondary considerations. ... I am alarmed, and wish 
to see my countrymen roused. . . . Our money is now sink- 
ing fifty per cent a day . . . and I shall not be surprised if, 
in the course of a few months, a total stop is put to the currency 
of it; and yet an assembly, a concert, a dinner, or supper, that 
will cost three or four hundred pounds, will not only take men 
off from acting in this business, but even from thinking of it, 
while a great part of the officers of our army, from absolute 
necessity, are quitting the service, and the more virtuous few, 
rather than do this, are sinking by sure degrees into beggary 
and want." 

Mar. 8. 1779. " Nothing of importance has happened . . . 
except the enemy's invasion of Georgia, and possession of its 
capital. . . . General Lincoln is assembling a force to dis- 
possess them. . . ." 

May 8, 1779. " The rapid decay of our currency, the ex- 
tinction of public credit, the increasing rapacity of the times, 
the want of harmony in our councils, the declining zeal of the 
people, the discontents and distresses of the officers of the army, 
and I may add, the prevailing security and insensibility to dan- 
ger, are symptoms, in my eye, of a most alarming nature. . . . 
Our army, as it now stands, is but little more than the skeleton 
of an army. . . ." 

Sept. 28, 1779. " Some late movements of the enemy have 
given rise to a variety of suggestions. ... I am far from 
being satisfied that they will not make another and more vigor- 
ous effort to the southward. ... It would give credit to their 
cause in Europe, favor negotiations in the winter, or help to 
gain friends for a further prosecution of the war." 

Mar 18, 1780. " As the enemy's intentions of operating in 
the southern States were unfolded, I began to detach troops 
to their aid. . . . But the extreme cold, the deep snows, and 
other impediments, have retarded the progress of their march 
very considerably." 



REVOLUTION AND IXDEPENDENCE 221 

Mar. 31, 17<S0. " What to do for the southern States, with- 
out involving consequences equally alarming in this quarter 
[New York and New Jersey], I know not." 

May 27, 1780. " It is with infinite pain I inform Congress, 
that we are reduced again to a situation of extremity for want 
of meat. . . . The men have borne their distress in general 
with a firmness and patience never exceeded. . . . But such 
reiterated, constant instances of want are too much for the sol- 
diery, and . . . two regiments of the Connecticut line mutinied 
Thursday night. . . . This matter, I confess, ... has 
given me infinitely more concern, than anything that has ever 
happened. . . ." 

May 28, 1780. " In modern wars, the longest purse must 
chiefly' determine the event. I fear that of the enemy will be 
found to be so." 

May 31, 1780. " Certain I am. unless Congress speak in a 
more decisive tone, unless they are vested with powers by the 
several States competent to the great purposes of war, or as- 
sume them as a matter of right, . . . that our cause is lost. 
We can no longer drudge along in the old way. . . . One 
State will comply with a requisition of Congress; another neg- 
lects to do it : a third executes it by halves ; ... we are always 
working uphill. ... I see one head gradually changing into 
thirteen. I see one army branching into thirteen. ... In a 
word, I see the powers of Congress declining too fast. . . ." 

Sept. 12, 1780. "The situation of America at this time is 
critical. The government is without finances. . . . The re- 
sources of the country are much diminished by a five years' war. 
Clinton, with an army of ten thousand. ... is in pos- 
session of one of our capital towns, and a large part of the State 
to which it belongs. The savages are desolating the frontier. 
A fleet, superior to that of our allies, protects the enemy against 
any attempts of ours. . . . Lord Cornwallis, with seven or 
eight thousand men. is in complete possession of . . . Georgia 
and South Carolina: and. by recent misfortunes. North Caro- 
lina is at his mercy. . . . General Gates ... in attempting 
to . . . regain the State of South Carolina, . . . met with 
total defeat near Camden. . . ." 

Sept, 15, 1780. -'[The] late disaster in South Carolina . . . 



222 AMERICAN HISTORY 

adds itself to many others, to exemplify the fatal consequences 
of depending on militia. Regular troops alone are equal to the 
exigencies of modern war. . . ." 

Sept. 26, 1780. " I . . . have been witness to a scene of 
treason, as shocking as it was unexpected. . . . General Ar- 
nold . . . had entered into a plot for sacrificing West Point.' 
. . . [He] has sullied his former glory by the blackest treason. 
. . . This . . . occasions me equal regret and mortification ; 
but traitors are the growth of every country, and in a revolu- 
tion of the present nature, it is more to be wondered at, that the 
catalogue is so small, than that there have been found a few.'' 

Oct. 21, 1780. "The advance of the British army towards 
the borders of North Carolina is an alarming circumstance. 

Oct. 23, 1780. " Our southern affairs wear a most disagree- 
able aspect, and prove more and more the necessity of renoun- 
cing that feeble system, which has brought this country to so 
perplexing a crisis." 

Dec. 20, 1780. " The movements of Cornwallis during the 
last month or two have been retrograde. ... I am happy . . . 
that a better disposition never prevailed in the legislatures of 
the several States, than at this time. . . . We want nothing 
but the aid of a loan to enable us to put our finances into a 
tolerable train." 

Jan. 5, 1781. " On the night of the 1st instant, a mutiny 
was excited by the non-commissioned officers and privates of 
the Pennsylvania line, which soon became so universal as to 
defy all opposition. ... At what point this disaffection will 
stop, or how extensive it may prove, God only knows. . . . The 
aggravated calamities and distresses that have resulted from 
the total want of pay for nearly twelve months, the want of 
clothing at a severe season, and not unfrequently the wjint of 
provisions, are beyond description." 

Jan. 22, 1781. "[A] part of the Jersey line . . . [has] 
followed the example of that of Pennsylvania. ... I dare not 
detail the risks we run from the present scantiness of sup- 
plies." 

Jan. 31, 1781. "[T]here can be no radical cure till Congress 
is vested, by the several States, with full and ample powers to 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 223 

enact laws for the general purposes, and till the executive busi- 
ness is placed in the hands of able men and responsible charac- 
ters." 

Feb. 17, 1781. " General Morgan's signal victory over Colo- 
nel Tarleton . . . reflects the highest honor upon our arms, and 
I hope will at least . . . check the offensive operations of the 
enemy, until General Greene shall have collected a much more 
respectable force. ..." 

Apr. 9, 1781. "[Wjithout a foreign loan, our present force, 
which is but the remnant of an army, can not be kept together 
this campaign. ..." 

Oct 19, 1781. '■ I have the honor to inform Congress, that 
a reduction of the British army, under the command of Lord 
Cornwallis, is happily effected. The unremitted ardor, 
which actuated every officer and soldier in the combined army 
on this occasion, has principally led to this important event, at 
an earlier period than my most sanguine hopes had induced me 
to expect. ... I should be wanting in . . . gratitude . . . 
did I not mention . . . the . . . able assistance . . . from 
the Count de Rochambeau. Nothing could equal this zeal of 
our allies. ... I wish it were in my power to express . . . 
how much I feel myself indebted to the Count de Grasse and 
the officers of the fleet under his command, for the distinguished 
aid and support which have been furnished by them." 

Nov. 20, 1781. " The present prospect is pleasing, . . . but 
on our own improvement of it depend its future good conse- 
quences. A vigorous prosecution of this success will, in all 
probability, procure us . . . an establishment of peace, liberty, 
and independence. A relaxation of our exertions at this moment 
may cause us many more toilsome campaigns, and be attended 
with the most unhappy consequences." 

Mar. 12, 1782. "What madness . . . can be greater, or 
what policy and economy worse, than to let the enemy again 
rise upon our folly and want of exertion ? " 

May 10. 1782. "The people, so far as I am informed, are 
catching at the idea of peace with great eagerness. . . . For 
my own part, I view our situation such, that, instead of relax- 
ing, we ought to improve the present moment as the most favor- 



224 AMERICAN HISTORY 

able to our wishes. ... If we follow the blow with vigor and 
energy, I think the game is our own.'' 

Mar. 29 and 30, 1783. " The news of a general peace . . . 
has filled my mind with inexpressible satisfaction. ... [It is] 
an event, which can not fail to diffuse a general joy throughout 
the United States, but to none of their citizens more than to the 
officers and soldiers, who now compose the armv." -" 

5. PEACE, 1781-1783 
a. American Demands: 

Congressional Instructions to Peace Coniinissioners (1779- 
1781). 

Aug. 14. 1779. ''[You] are ... to make it a preliminary 
article to any negotiation — That Great Britain shall agree to 
treat with the United States as sovereign, free, and independent. 
. . . The boundaries . . . are as follows, viz. : . . . north 
by a line . . . from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia along 
the highlands which divide . . . the river St. Lawrence from 
. . . the Atlantic Ocean to the . . . head of the Connecticut 
River; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty- 
fifth degree . . . : thence due west ... to the . . . river St. 
Lawrence . . .; thence straight to . . . Lake Nipissing; and 
thence straight to the source of the river Mississippi. West 
. . . along the middle of the river Mississippi from its source 
to . . . the thirty-first degree. . . . .South by a line . . . 
due east . . . to the middle of the river Appalachicola . . . ; 
thence along the middle thereof to its jvmction with the Flint 
River: thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River; and 
thence down along the middle of St. Mary's River to the At- 
lantic Ocean. And east by a line . . . along the middle of 
St. John's River from its source to its mouth. . . . [But] if 
the line from . . . Lake Nipissing to the head of the Missis- 
sippi can not be obtained, . . . you are ... to agree to some 
other line, . . . provided the same shall in no part ... be 
to the southward of . . . fortv-five degrees. . . ." 



20. Jared Sparks, Writings of Washington, VI, 43. 5.^. 151-152, 190-191, 
251, 356-357. 487: VII, 5, 56-57, 60, 67-68. 197, 205, 215, 218, 268, 277, 337, 
352, 381, 383, 391. 415; VIII, 7, 182-184, 209-210, 254-293. 



REVOLUTION AXD IXDEPEXDEXXE 225 

(Oct. 18, 1780.) " That with respect to those persons 
[Tories] who have either aljandoned or heen banished from any 
oi the United States . . . [you are] to make no stipulations 
whatsoever for their readmittance ; and as to an equivalent for 
their property, [you may] attend to propositions on that sub- 
ject only on reciprocal stipulation that Great Britain will make 
full compensation for all the wanton destruction . . . com- 
mitted on the property of the citizens of the United States.'' 

(June 15, 1781.) "As to disputed boundaries ... we 
think it unsafe ... to tie you up by absolute and peremptory 
directions. . . . You are ... to secure the interest of the 
United States in such a manner as circumstances may direct. 
. . . [You] are to make the most candid and confidential com- 
munications upon all subjects to the ministers of our generous 
ally, the King of France ; to undertake nothing in the negotia- 
tions . . . without their knowledge and concurrence." -^ 

Secretary of State Livingston to Franklin (Jan 7, 1782). 
" The fisheries will probably he another source of litigation. . . . 
The . . . America [n] . . . claim to fish on the banks of New- 
foundland arises, first, from their having . . . always enjoyed 
. . . the right of fishing on those banks, . . . [and] second 
. . . [from] the right which nature gives to all mankind to 
use its common benefit so far a-^ not to exclude others." "- 

b. Dispute with Spain over the Western Lands: 

Spanish Protest against the Mississippi Boundary (Presented 
to Congress by the French Minister, Feb. 2, 1780). "[The] 
lands lying on the east side of the Mississippi . . . are pos- 
sessions of the crown of Great Britain, and proper objects 
against which the arms of S])ain may l)e employed for the pur- 
pose of making a permancnl conquest for the Spanish crown. 
. . . [S]uch conquest may i)roliably be made during the pres- 
ent war; . . . the council of Madrid consider the United States 
as having no claims to those territories. . . ."-'•• 

Congressional Reply to Spanish Claims (Oct. 17, 1780). "In 



21. F. Wharton, Diplomatic C'orrc-spoiHleiice of .lit- Revolution, III, 294-J95; 
I\', 101, 503-504. 

22. Wharton, V, 90, 91. 

23. Wharton, IV, 489. 



226 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the first place, the river Mississippi will be a more natural, more 
distinguishable, and more precise boundary than any other that 
can be drawn eastward of it. . . . Thirdly, . . . this territory 
lies within the charter limits of particular states, and is consid- 
ered by them as no less their property than any other territory 
within their limits. . . . Fourthly, The territory in question 
contains a number of inhabitants, who are at present under the 
protection of the United States, and have sworn allegiance to 
them. . . . Fifthly, ... a cession of this territory [to Spain] 
. . . would deprive them [the United States] of one of the 
material funds on which tliey rely for pursuing the war. . . . 
[A] 11 the territory lying within the limits of the states, as fixed 
by the sovereign himself [in the colonial charters], . . . must 
... be considered as having devolved on them, in consequence 
of the resumption of the sovereignty to themselves." -^ 

c. Negotiations at Paris. 

Extracts from the Currespoiidence of the Peace Commis- 
sioners ( 1782-1783) . 

Jan. 19, 1782. "In England they are mad for a separate 
[peace] with us, that they may more effectually take revenge 
on France and Spain. . . . The thing is impossible. We can 
never agree to desert our first and our faithful friend on any 
considerations whatever.' 

Mar. 4, 1782. " It seems the nation is sick of it [war] ; but 
the king is obstinate.' 

Mar. 30, 1782. " They [the English Ministry] still seem to 
flatter themselves with the idea of dividing us. . . . They are 
. . . likewise endeavoring to get us to treat separately from 
France. ..." 

Apr. 12, 1782. "I see by the newspapers that the Si)aniards, 
having taken a little post called St. Joocph, pretend to have 
made a conquest of the Illinois country. . . . [A] re they to be 
suffered to encroach on our bounds and shut us up within the 
Appalachian Mountains ? I begin to fear they have some such 
project." -^ 

June 28, 1782. " The . . . British Ministry ... are 



24. Wait, Secret Journals of Continental Congress, II, 328 o3i 

25. Wharton, V, 121, 214, 277. 300. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 227 

divided. . . . Mr. Fox and his friends incline to meet us on 
the terms of independence, but . . . Lord Shelburne and his 
adherents entertain an idea of making- a compact with us, simi- 
lar to that between Britain and Ireland. . . . " -'" 

July 10, 1782. '■ I do not know why the good work of 
peace goes on so slowly. . . . Some have imagined that . . . 
[the English] ministers, since Rodney's success [in the West 
Indies], are desirous of trying fortune a little further before 
they conclude the war ; others, that they have not a good under- 
standing with each other." -" 

Nov. l7, 1782. " Count d'Aranda [the Spanish representa- 
tive in the peace negotiations] . . . opening Michell's large 
map of North America, . . . asked me [John Jay] what were 
our boundaries ; I told him. . . . He entered into a long dis- 
cussion of our right to such an extent [west of the AUeghanies] 
. . . [and] proposed to run a . . . line . . . for our western 
boundary. ... I desired him to mark on the map the line he 
proposed. ... A few days afterwards he sent me the same 
map, with his proposed line marked on it in red ink. He ran 
it from a lake near the confines of Georgia ... to the conflu- 
ence of Kanawha with the Ohio, thence round the western 
shores of Lakes Erie and Huron, and thence round Lake Mich- 
igan to Lake Superior. ... I carried this map to Count Ver- 
gennes [the French representative in the peace negotiations], 
and left it with him. . . . The Count . . . was very cautious 
and reserved ; but M. Rayneval. his principal secretary, . . . 
thought we claimed more than we had a right to. . . . On the 6th 
of September, M. de Rayneval wrote me ... [a] Memoir [on 
the subject of western boundaries]. . . . The perusal of this 
memoir convinced me, first. That this Court [France] would 
at a peace, oppose our extension to the Mississippi. . . . 
Thirdly. That they would probably support the British claims 
.... above the 31st degree, . . . and certainly to all . . . 
north of the Ohio. Fourthly. That in case we should not agree 
to divide [the territory south of the Ohio] with Spain, . . . 
then this court would aid Spain in negotiating with Britain for 



26. H. P. Johnston. Correspondence of John Jay, 11, 318. 

27. J. Sparks, Works of Franklin, IX, 360. 



228 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ihc lerritory she wanled." -'■' [The American commissioners 
iherefore decided to negotiate separately and secretly with Great 
Britain.] 

Dec. 5, 1782. " Much of the summer has been taken up in 
objecting against . . . Great Britain . . . not using any ex- 
pressions, that might imply an acknowledgment of our independ- 
ence. . . . But our refusing otherwise to treat, at length in- 
duced them to get over that difficulty, and then we came to the 
point of making propositions. . . . We spent many days in 
disputing, and at length agreed on and signed the preliminaries. 
. . . The British . . . struggled hard for two points, that the 
favors granted to the loyalists should be extended, and all our 
fishery contracted. We silenced them on the first, by threaten- 
ing to produce an account of the mischief done by those people; 
and as to the second, when they told us they could not possibly 
agree to it, . . . we produced a new article [compensation for 
British depredations in Boston]. . . . Apparently ... to 
avoid the discussion of this, they . . . agreed to allow the fish- 
ery as demanded. . . . They wanted to bring their boundary 
down to the Ohio, and to settle their loyalists in the Illinois 
country. We did not choose such neighbors. . . . We com- 
municated all. the articles, as soon as they were signed, to Count 
de Vergennes, (except the separate one [concerning the Flor- 
ida boundary]).'" -■' 

d. Ratification of the Treaty: 

French Protest against the Secret Negofiafions (Count de 
\^ergennes to. Franklin, Dec. 15, 1782). "I am at a loss, Sir, 
to explain your conduct, and that of your colleagues. . . . You 
have concluded your preliminary articles without any communi- 
cation between us. although the instructions from Congress 
prescribe, that nothing shall l)e done without the participation 
of the [French] King." ■'"* 

American Ref^ly (Franklin to Vergennes, Dec. 17, 1782). 
" Xothing has lieen agreed in the preliminaries contrary to 
the interests of France; and no peace is to take place between 
u.-. and England, till you ha\e concluded yours. . . . | Wei have 



28. H. P. Johnston, Correspondencf of John Jay, II, 388-390, 393-394, 398-399, 

29. T. .Sparks, Works of Franklin. IX, 439-443. 

30. Same. 449 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 229 

been guilty of neglecting a point of bienscance [courtesy J. But, 
au this was not from want of respect for the King, . . . we 
hope it will be excused. . . . And certainly the whole edifice 
sinks to the ground. . . . [ijf you refuse on that account to 
give us any further assistance.'' ^^ 

American Reproof of Cotiuiiissioiicrs for Secret Negotiations 
(Secretary of Slate Livingston to Franklin, Mar. 26, 1783). 
" The terms you have obtained for us comprise most of the 
objects we wish fur. I am sorry, however, that you found it 
necessary to . . . ccjiiceal your measures from the court of 
France. I am fearful that you will not be able to produce 
such facts as will justify this conduct to the world or free u=. 
from the charge of ingratitude to a friend who has treated us 
not only justly, but generously." "- 

Completion of Treaty of Peace (Extracts from Correspond- 
ence of Peace Commissioners, 1782-1783). 

Dec. 23, 1782. " W'e should not . . . imagine ourselves al- 
ready in peace. The other powers are not yet agreed, and war 
may continue longer than we expect. Our preliminaries have 
not yet been communicated to Parliament, and . . . perhaps 
the ratification may be prevented. A little more success in the 
West Indies this winter may totally turn the heads of that 
giddy [English] nation.' 

Mar. 17, 1783. " The clamor against the peace in . . . Par- 
liament would alarm me [Franklin], ... if I were not of 
opinion . . . that the attack is rather against the minister." 

Aug. 31, 1783. " After a continued course of treating for 
nine months, the English ministry have at length come to a 
resolution to lay aside ... all the new propositions . . . and 
. . . to sign again as a Definitive Treaty, the articles of 
November the 30th, 1782. . . ."^s 

Sept. 10, 1783. " On the 3d instant definitive treaties were 
concluded between all the late belligerent powers except the 
Dutch. . . . We most sincerely and cordially congratulate Con- 
gress and our country in general on this happy event. . . . 
With great respect, we have the honor to be, sir. your . . . 



31. Same. 451. 

32. Wharton. Dipl. Corresp. Revol.. \I. 343 344. 

33. J. Sparks, Works of Franklin, IX, 459, 498, 550. 



230 AMERICAN HISTORY 

most obedient and most humble servants, John Adams, B. Frank- 
Hn, John Jay." "■* 

Final Treaty of Peace (Sept. 3, 1783-Jan 14, 1784). 

"Article 1. His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said 
United States . . . t<j be free, sovereign and independent 
States. . . . 

Article II. [Boundaries]. . . . From the northwest angle 
of Nova Scotia, viz., that angle which is formed by a line drawn 
due north from the source of the Saint Croix River to the 
Highlands; along the said Highlands which divide those rivers 
that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those 
which fall into, the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost 
head of Connecticut River ; thence down . . . that river, to the 
forty-fifth degree . . .; from thence, by a line due west . . . 
[to] the river Iroquois [St. Lawrence] . . .; thence along the 
middle of said river into Lake Ontario, . . . Lake Erie, . . . 
Lake Huron, . . . Lake Superior . . . [and] Long Lake . . . 
to the . . . Lake of the Woods, ... to the most northwest- 
ern point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to the 
river Mississippi; thence . . . along the middle of the said 
river Mississippi . . . [to] the thirty-first degree. . . . [Thence] 
by a line . . . due east ... to the middle of the river Apala- 
chicola . . . ; thence along the middle thereof to its junction 
with the Flint River ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's 
River . . . and . . . along the middle of St. Mary's River 
to the Atlantic Ocean. [On the North] East, by a line along 
the middle of the river St. Croix, from its mouth ... to its 
source. 

Article III. It is agreed that the people of the United States 
shall continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish . . . 
at all . . . places . . . where the inhabitants of both coun- 
tries used at any time ... to fish, . . . [and the] liberty to 
t^ke fish ... on such part of the coast ... as British 
fishermen shall use . . . ; and ... to dry and cure fish 
in any of the unsettled bays, and harbours, [etc.], ... so 
long as the same shall remain unsettled. . . . 

Article IV. It is agreed that creditors on either side shall 



34. Wharton, Dipl. Corresp. Revol., YI, 687, 691. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 231 

meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full 
valu§ ... of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted. 

Article V. . . • Congress shall earnestly recommend it to 
the legislatures of the respective States, to provide for the 
restitution of all estates, rights, and properties which have been 

confiscated. ... r ■ a 

Article VI. That there shall be no future confiscations made, 
nor any prosecutions commenc'd against any person or persons 
for . . . the part which he or they may have taken in the 

present war. ... , ,, vu n 

Article VII. ... His Britannic Majesty shall, with all 
convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or car- 
rying away any negroes or other property of the American 
inhabitants, withdraw all his arms, garrisons, and fleets from 
the . . . United States. . . ."^" 



QUESTIONS 

I (I) What difficulties zvithin the army hampered Wash- 
ington in the campaigns of 1776 and 1777? (2) Wha e.xter- 
nal difficukies^ (3) What was the British purpose m the cam- 
oaiVns of 1776 and 1777? (4) What was Washington's plan of 
S ienL in the^e years, ai.d why? (5) Were Englisl^ or 
Americans successful in the war in the North? (6) Of what 
different nations of Europe did the United States ask aid and 
what k"nd of aid did it ask from each? (7) What help did th 
United States obtain from other nations than France, and at 
what period of the war? (8) What reasons ^or European w 1 - 
ineness in giving assistance to Americans? (9) What ettect 
d"d the French alliance have upon the English attitude towards 
Americans in 1778? (10) Over what different Ponjts die mem- 
bers of Congress argue in forming the Articles ^f CpiV^^;^^^^^^^ 
tion? Significance of each? (11) What were the Western 
Land Claims" and why did Maryland make such vigorous op- 
position to them? (U) During 1778 to 1781 did tl- Ame"can 
army suffer from the same troubles as it had ^^^"j/J^e to 17/8 
(13) What new difficulties did it encounter? (14) How and 
whv did Spain and France retard peace negotiations? (15) 
What were the chief points over which American and English 
negotiators disagreed, and how was each finally settled r 

35. Treaties and Conventions U. S., 375-378. 



232 AMERICAN HISTORY 

II. (1) Write a brief estimate of the American soldier of 
the Revokition — his good and his bad traits. (2) Summarize 
the various influences of European aid upon the Revolution. 
(3) Write a paper on "States Rights vs. Nationality in the 
Articles of Confederation." (4) In what disputes, abroad and 
at home, was the United States involved on account of the re- 
gion west of the Alleghanies? 

III. (1) In what ways are the weaknesses of the American 
army during the Revolution explained? (2) What effect did 
the French aid to America have on later French history? (3) 
Why was the surrender of the western land claims of the States 
of great importance in our history? (4) What reasons for 
Spanish and French attack on American claim to region west 
of Alleghanies? (5) How faithfully were the terms of the 
treaty of peace carried out by the Americans ? by the Brit- 
ish ? (6) How long was the boundary of 1783 in dispute, and 
in what way finally settled? (7) What effect did the American 
Revolution have on the history of Great Britain and its colo- 
nial policy, after 1783? 

Text-Book References.— XiVdms & Treiu. 114-120, 126-179; 
Ashley, 161-190; Channing (revision 1908), 161-191; James & 
Sanford, 163-180, 183-190; Macdonald's Johnston. 131-167, 171; 
McLaughlin, 197-216; McMaster,, 135-15"2, 155-162; Montgom- 
erv (revision 1905), 191-196, 203-228; Thomas (revision 1903), 
139-169. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 233 

SECTION III 
BREAKDOWN OF THE CONFEDERATION, 1781-1786 

Even before the end of the Revolutionary War, a weak- 
enhig- of the Confederation began to be evident. Congress 
declining froni year to year in the quality of its member- 
ship, losing prestige, and finding itself unable to make the 
States respond to its necessary demands. But as soon as 
peace removed the. pressure of war, defects developed many 
times more rapidly. Americans turned their attention and 
energy to the problems of material progress — to recupera- : 
tion from the ravages of the seven years' military conflict. 
State and local governments satisfied all immediate needs, 
and so grew in power and importance, while the central 
government gradually came to be looked upon largely as a 
useless relic of the Revolution, seeking needlessly to per- 
petuate itself and enlarge its own powers. 

P)Ut as the states fell into embarrassing trade and tariff 
rivalries, and Great Britain took advantage of these to flood 
the United States with British products, while closing those 
British markets to which American products were largely 
shipped, the necessity of a revived and strengthened na- 
tional government began to make itself felt and led to nu- 
merous suggestions of remedy. 

This section attempts to show from the sources -the, dc-- 
fccts developed by the Confederation in time of peace; the 
various proposals made up to 1786 for remedying these de- 
fects; and, finally, the one great thing the weakened Con- 
federation did actually accomplish in its last days — the crea- 
tion and organization of a national domain to the west of 
the Alleghany mountains. 

1. DEFECTS DEVELOPED BY PEACE 

a Lack of a National Revenue: 

Alexander Haiiii/ton in the '' Continentalist," Aug. 30. 
1781). "The . . , Confederation . . . gives the United States 



234 AMERICAN HISTORY 

no property ; or, in other words, no revenue, nor the means of 
acquiring it . . . independent of the temporary pleasures of 
the different members. And power without revenue . . . is a 
name. While Congress continues altogether dependent on the 
occasional grants of the several States, for the means of de- 
fraying the expenses of the Federal Government, it can neither 
have vigor, dignity, nor credit." ^ 

b. Lack of National Control of Commerce. 

James Madison to James Monroe (Aug. 7, 1785). " If it be 
necessary to regulate trade at all, it surely is necessary to lodge 
the power where trade can be regulated with effect ; and expe- 
rience has confirmed what reason foresaw, that it can never be 
so regulated by the States acting in their separate capacities. 
. . . Must we remain passive victims to foreign politics, or shall 
we exert the lawful means which our independence has put into 
our hands of extorting redress ? . . . I conceive it to be of 
great importance that the defects of the federal system should 
be amended, . . . because I apprehend danger to its very ex- 
istence from a continuance of defects which expose a part, if 
not the whole, of the empire to severe distress." ^ 

Washington to James McJJenry (Aug. 22, 1785). "I do 
not know that we can enter upon a war of imposts with Great 
Britain, or any other foreign power ; but we are certain, that 
this war has been waged against us by the former ; professedly 
upon a belief that we never could unite in opposition to it ; 
and I believe there is no way of putting an end to [it] . . . but 
to convince them of the contrary. . . [We] stand in a ridicu- 
lous view in the eyes of the nations of the world, with whom 
we are attempting to enter into commercial treaties, without 
the means of carrying them into effect ; who must see and feel 
that the Union or the States individually are sovereigns, as best 
suits their purposes ; in a word that we are one nation to-day 
and thirteen to-morrow." ^ 

Washington to M. de la Luzerne (Aug. 1, 1786). "The 
greater part of the Union seems to be convinced of the necessity 



1. H. C. Lodge. Works of Hamilton, I. 262. 

2. G. Hunt, Writings of Madison, II, 156-157. 

3. J. Sparks, Works of Washington, IX, 121-124. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 235 

of federal measures, and of investing Congress with the power 
of regulating the commerce of the whole." * 

c. Lack of Power in the Confederation Congress: 

John Jay to Gouvcrnour Morris (Sept. 24, 1783). "I am 
fully convinced that no time is to be lost in raising and main- 
taining a national spirt in America. Pozvcr to govern the con- 
federacy, as to all general purposes, should be granted and 
exercised." ^ 

Alexander Hamilton: Vindication of Congress (1783). 
"[It] is the duty of all those who have the welfare of the com- 
munity at heart to unite their efforts to direct the attention of 
the people to the true sources of the public disorders — the want 
or an efficient General Government, — and to impress upon 
them this conviction, that the States, to be happy, must have a 
stronger bond of Union and a Confederation capable of draw- 
ing forth the resources of the country." ® 

General Washington : Circular Letter to the Governors of the 
Slates (June 8, 1783). "[HJappiness is ours, if we have a dis- 
position to seize the occasion. . . . [It] appears to me there is 
an option still left to the United States of America, . . . 
whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptible 
and miserable, as a nation. This is the time of their political 
probation ; this is the moment when the eyes of the whole world 
are turned upon them ; this is the moment to establish or ruin 
their national character forever; this is the favorable moment 
to give such a tone to our federal government as will enable 
it to answer the ends of its institution, or this may be the ill- 
fated moment for relaxing the powers of the Union, annihilating 
the cement of the confederation, and exposing us to become the 
sport of European politics, which may play one State against 
another. . . . For. according to the system of policy the States 
shall adopt at this moment, they Avill stand or fall ; and by their 
confirmation or lapse it is yet to be decided whether the revolu- 
tion must ultimately be considered a blessing or a curse; a 
blessing or a curse, not to the present age alone, for with our 



4. J. Sparks, Works of Washington, IX, IS.'?. 

5. H. P. Johnston, Works of Jay, III, 8.i. 

6. H. C. Lodge, Works of Hamilton, I. 331. 



236 AMERICAN HISTORY 

fate will the destiny of unborn millions be involved. . . . There 
are four things which . . . are essential . . . to the existence 
of the United States, as an independent power. 

First. An indissoluble union of the States under one fed- 
eral head. 

Second. A sacred regard to public justice. 

Third. The adoption of a proper peace establishment ; and. 

Fourth. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly dispo- 
sition among the people of the United States which will induce 
them to forget their local prejudices and policies." " 

Extracts from Washington's Correspondence (1784-1786). 
Jan. 18, 1784. " I have many [fears] and powerful ones in- 
deed, which predict the worst consequences, from a half-starved, 
limping government, that appears to be always moving upon 
crutches, and tottering at every step." "" 

Oct. 7, 1785. " [The] confederation appears to me to be 
little more than a shadow without substance. . . ." " 

July 26, 1786. "Our character as a nation is dwindling; 
and what it must come to, . . . our enemies have foretold; for 
in truth we seem either not capable, or not willing to take care 
of ourselves." '" 

Aug. 1. 1786. " What astonishing changes a few years are 
capable of producing. I am told that even respectable charac- 
ters speak of a monarchical form of government without hor- 
ror. From thinking proceeds speaking; thence to acting is often 
Init a single step. Rut how irrevocable and tremendous ! W'hat 
a triumph for our enemies to verify their predictions ! What a 
triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we arc in- 
capable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the 
basis of equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious !"' ^^ 

Oct. 31, 1786. "You talk, my good sir. of employing influ- 
ence to appease the present tumults in Massachusetts. I know 
not where that influence it to be found, or, if attainable, that it 
would be a proper remedy for the disorders. InHncnce is not 
government. Let us have a government by which our lives, lib- 



7. J. Sparks. Works of WashiiiRton. VTII. 441-443. 

8. Same, TX, 12. 

9. Same, p. 139. 

10. Same, p. 177. 

11. Same. p. 189, 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 237 

crties, and properties will be secured, or let us know the worst 
at once." ^- 

2. PROPOSALS OF REMEDY FOR THE DEFECTS OF THE 
CONFEDERATION 

a. Congressional Recommendation of Amendments to the Ar- 
ticles of Confederation: 

Rccoiiniioidatiou of lySi (Feb. 1). " Resoh-ed, That it be 
recommended to the several States, . . . that they vest a power 
in Congress to levy, for the use of the United States, a duty of 
five per cent ad valanmi, ... at the time and place of impor- 
tation, upon all goods, ... of foreign growth or manufac- 
ture. . . . 

That the moneys arising from said duties be appropriated to 
the discharge of the principal and interest of the debts already 
contracted." ^^ 

Recommendation of i/8^ (April 18). "Resolved, . . . 
That it be recommended to the several States as indispensably 
necessary to the restoration of public credit, ... to invest the 
United States in Congress assembled, with the power to levy, 
for the use of the United States, . . . duties upon goods im- 
ported into the said States from any foreign port." ''* 

Reconnnendafion of T/84 (April 30). "rSince] it is ncccs- 
sar}^ that . . . foreign commerce, not founded on principles of 
equality, may be restrained, . . . Resolved, That it be . . . 
recommended to the legislatures of the several states, to vest 
the United States, in Congress assembled, for the term of fifteen 
years, with powers to prohibit any goods . . . from being im- 
ported into or exported from any of the states, in vessels be- 
longing to . . . the subjects of any foreign power with w^hom 
these states shall not have formed treaties of commerce. . . . 
Resolved, That it be . . . recommended. ... to vest the 
United States, in Congress assembled, for the term of fifteen 
vears, with the power of prohibiting the subjects of any foreign 



12. I. .Sp.irks. Works of Washington, IX, 204. 

13. J. Elliott, Debates on Federal Constitution, I. 92 

14. Same, p. 93. 



238 AMERICAN HISTORY 

state . . . unless authorized by treaty, from importing into the 
United States any goods . . . which are not the product . . . 
of the dominions of the sovereign whose subjects they are." ''^ 

b. Proposals for a Constitutional Convention: 

Thomas Paine (in pamphlet "Public Good," 1780. " I shall 
in this place take the opportunity of renewing a hint which I 
formerly threw out in the pamphlet ' Common Sense,' and 
which the States will, sooner or later, see the convenience, if 
not the necessity, of adopting; which is, that of electing a con- 
tinental convention, for the purpose of forming a continental 
constitution, describing and defining the powers and authority 
of Congress." '^^ 

Nezv York Legislature (adopting resolutions introduced by 
Hamilton, July 21, 1782). "Resolved, That it appears . . . 
that . . . important ends can never be attained by partial 
deliberations of the States separately, but that it is essential to 
the common welfare that there should be as soon as possible a 
conference of the whole on the subject, and that it would be 
advisable ... to propose to congress to recommend, and to each 
State to adopt, the measure of assembling a General Conven- 
tion of THE States, specially authorized to revise and amend 
the Confederation." ^" 

Alexander Hamilton (Resolution rejected by Congress. June 
30, 1783). " Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to the 

several States to appoint a convention to meet at , on the 

day of , with full powers to revise the Confederation, 

and to adopt and propose such alterations as to them shall ap- 
pear necessary; to be finally approved or rejected by the States 
respectively. . ." ^^ 

James Madison to R. H. Lee (Dec. 25, 1784). " I have not 
yet found time to scan the project of a Continental Convention 
with so close an eye as to have made up any observations worthy 
of being mentioned. ... In general I hold . . . that the per- 
petuity and efiicacy of the present system can not be confided in. 



15. Way & Gideon, Journals of Continental Congress, I\', 393. 

16. M. D. Conway, Writings of Paine, II, 66. 

17. H. C. Lodge, Works of Hamilton, I, 294. 

18. Same, p. 313. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 239 

The question therefore is, in what mode and at what moment 
the experiment for supplying the defects ought to be made." ^^ 
Massachusetts Legislature (July 1, 1785). "Resolved, That 
it is the opinion of this court [legislature] that the present pow- 
ers of the Congress of the United States . . . are not adequate 
to the great purposes they were originally designed to effect. 
. . . That ... it is highly expedient, if not indispensably nec- 
essary, that there should be a Convention of Delegates from all 
the States in the Union at some convenient place, as soon as 
may be, for the sole purpose of revising the Confederation and 
reporting to Congress how far it may be necessary to alter 
or enlarge the same. . . . That Congress ... is requested to 
recommend a Convention. . . . " ^o 



3. ORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONAL DOMAIN 
a. Virginia Cession of Western Land Claims. 

Thomas Jefferson (in Congress) to the Governor of Vir- 
ginia (Mar. 3, 1784). " On receiving the act of [the Virginia] 
assembly for the Western cession, our delegation agreed on the 
form of a deed; we then delivered to Congress a copy of the 
act, and the form of the deed we were ready to execute. . . . 
They referred the act and deed to a committee, who reported 
. . . that Congress ought to accept. . . . On the question to 
agree to the report of the Committee, . . . there were five ayes 
only and the report fell. . . . We meddled not at all . . . and 
showed a perfect indifference. ... A member from Rhode 
Island then moved that Congress should accept. Another from 
Jersey proposed as an amendment . . . that it should not 
amount to an acknowledgment of our right [to the western 
lands]. We told them we were not authorized to admit any con- 
ditions or provisions. . . . About an hour after the dissenting 
Pennsylvanian asked and obtained leave to change his no, into 
aye, the vote then passed and we executed the deed." -^ 



19. G. Hunt, Writing.? of Madison, II, 99100. 

20. C. R. King, Life and Correspondence Rufus King, I, 58. 

21. P. L. Ford, Writings of Jefferson, III, 411-412. 



240 AMERICAN HISTORY 

b. First attempts to organize the new National Domain: 

Ordinance of I/84 (Proceedings of Congress, April 19-23. 
1784). April 19. "Congress took into consideration the rei)orl 
of a committee . . . [on] a plan for a temporary government of the 
western territory: when a motion was made . . . to strike out 
. . . ' That after the year 1800 . . . there shall be neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said | new west- 
ern] States, . . . ' the whole were struck out.' '" -- 

April 20. " Congress resumed the consideration of the re- 
port. . . . and the following clause, . . . That they shall be 
subject to the government of the United States in Congress as- 
sembled. . . . [was] struck out. ... A motion was made 
. . . to strike out the words, 'and | their governments] shall 
admit no person to l)c a citizen who holds any hereditary title.' 
. . . and the words were struck out." -* 

April 23. " Congress resumed the consideration of the re- 
port, . . . [and] the report as amended, was agreed to as fol- 
lows : ' Resolved, That . . . the territory ceded or to be ceded 
by individal states to the United States . . . shall be divided 
into distinct states. . . . That the settlers . . . shall . . . 
for the purpose of establishing a temporary government, . . . 
adopt the constitution and laws of any one of the original 
states . . . and . . . erect . . . counties, townships, or other 
divisions, for the election of members for their legislature. . . . 
That when any such state shall have acquired 20,000 free in- 
habitants, . . . they shall . . . call a convention of repre- 
sentatives to establish a permanent constitution and govern- 
ment for themselves . . . [to] be established on . . . [certain 
prescribed] principles as their basis. . . . That whensoever any 
of the said states shall have, of free inhabitants, as many as 
shall then be in any one of the least numerous of the thirteen 
original states, such state shall be admitted . . . into the Con- 
gress of the United States, on an equal footing with the said 
original states ; provided the consent of so many states in Con- 
gress is first obtained as may at the time be competent to such 
admission. . . ."'•"' 



22. Way & Gideon, Journals Continental Congress, IV, 373. 

24. Way & Gideon, Journals Continental Congress, IV, 374. 

25. Way &• Gideon. Jonrnnls Continental Congrc>;s. IV, ,i79-.>S0 



REVOLUTION AND IXDEI'EXDEXCE 241 

Ordinance of 1783 (Proceedings of Congress, April 23-May 
20, 1785). April 23. "The . . . part of the ordinance [for 
disposing of laiids in the western territory] being under debate : 
• Provided that none of the lands ... be sold under the price 
of one dollar the acre. . . •' It was moved ... to amend the 
same ... so that it would read ' one-half dollar the acre.' . . . 
[The motion] was lost. The following paragraph . . . l)eing 
under debate ; ' There shall be reserved the central section of 
every township, for the maintenance of public schools ; and the 
section . . . to'the northward, for the support of religion. . . .' 
A motion was made ... to strike out the . . . words . . . 
' And the section ... to the northward, for the support of 
religion . . . ,' and the words were struck out. A motion was 
made ... to amend . . . by inserting . . . ' and the section 
... to the northward, for charitable uses.' And ... the 
question was lost." -" _ 

May 20. "[The] . . . ordinance for . . . disposing ot 
lands in the western territory . . . was passed as follows : . . . 

A surveyor from each State shall l)e appointed by Congress 

The surveyors . . . shall proceed to divide the said territory 
into townships of six miles square and . . . shall transmit plats 
thereof to the board of treasury. . . . The secretary of war 
shall take by lot therefrom, a number of townships. . . . 
for the use of the late continental army. . . . The board of 
treasury shall . . . cause the remaining [townships] ... to 
be drawn for | bv lot], in the name of the thirteen states, . . . 
according to the quotas in the last preceeding requisition. . . . 
The ' commissioners of the loan-offices of the several 
states . . . shall proceed to sell [their lands] at public vendue. 

" 27 

c. The Ordinances of 1787 and 1788: 

James Monroe to John Jax (April 20. 1786). "The Com- 
uiittee to whom it is referred to report [to Congress] the plan 
of a temporarv government for such States as shall be erected 

ler the acts of cession . . . request the favor ot your at- 



UP.C 



26. Way & Gidc:on, .Tournals of ContitKntal Congress, IV, 506-507. 

27. Same. 520-521. 



242 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tention and advice. . . . The first question ... is, Shall it be 
upon Colonial principles, under a governor, council and judges 
of the U. S., . . . [until] adnaitted, ... or shall they be left 
to themselves until that event ? " -** 

James Monroe to Thomas J eifer son (July 16, 1786). "[The] 
investigation of the subject has open'd the eyes of a part of the 
Union [the New England States] ... to view [it] ... in a 
different light. . . . They have therefore manifested a desire to 
rescind everything they have heretofore done. . . . This with 
some other instructions they wish to impose . . . evinces 
plainly the policy of these men to keep them out of the Confed- 
eracy altogether." -'•' 

John Jay to Jefferson (Dec. 14, 1786). "Would it not be 
wiser gradually to extend our settlements as want of room should 
make it necessary, than to pitch our tents through the wilder- 
ness in a great variety of places, far distant from each other, 
and from those advantages of education, civilization, law, and 
government which compact settlements and neighborhoods af- 
ford? Shall we not fill the wilderness with white savages? — 
and will they not become more formidable to us than the tawny 
ones which now inhabit it ? " ^" 

James Madison to Edmund Pendleton (Apr. 22, 1787). 
" Congress are at present deliberating on the most proper plan 
for disposing of the Western lands, and providing a criminal 
and civil administration for the Western settlements beyond the 
Ohio. . . . The sale was at first to have been distributed 
throughout the States. This plan is now exchanged for the 
opposite extreme. The sale is to be made where Cong[res]s 
sits. ... In providing for the unsurveyed lands, the difficulty 
arises from the Eastern attachm[en]t to townships & the South- 
ern to indiscriminate locations." ^^ 

Extracts from the Ordinance of i/8y (Adopted by Congress 
July 13, 1787). "Be it ordained, . . . That the estates . . . 
of . . . proprietors . . . dying intestate, shall descend to . . . 
their children ... in equal parts. . . . 

That there shall be appointed ... by Congress, a governor. 



28. H. P. Johnston, Correspondence of John Jay, III, 190-191. 

29. S. M. Hamilton, Writings of Monroe, I, 140-141. 

30. H. P. Johnston, Correspondence of Jay, III, 224. 

31. G. Hunt, Writings of Madison, II, 356. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 243 

... a secretary, . . . [and] a court ... of three judges. 
. . . The g-overnor and judges . . . shall adopt . . . such 
laws of the original States ... as may be necessary . . . and 
report them to Congress . . . ; which laws shall be in force 
. . . until the organization of the general assembly. . . . 
Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the gov- 
ernor shall appoint such . . . officers, in each county and 
township, as he shall find necessary. . . . 

So soon as there shall be 5,000 free male inhabitants of full 
age, in the district, . . . they shall receive authority ... to 
elect representatives from their counties and townships, to rep- 
resent them in the general assembly ; . . . [and] a freehold in 
50 acres of land in the district . . . shall be necessary to 
qualify a man as an elector of a representative. The general 
assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the governor, legisla- 
tive council, and a house of representatives. The legislative 
council shall consist of five members . . . nominated and ap- 
pointed in the following manner . . . : [The representatives] 
shall nominate ten persons, . . . five of whom Congress shall 
appoint. . . . And the governor, legislative council and house 
of representatives, shall have authority to make laws . . . for 
the good government of the district, . . . [which laws] shall 
be referred to the governor for his assent. . . . [The] council 
and house . . . shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a 
delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a 
right of debating, but not of voting. . . . 

And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and 
religious liberty, . . . [and] to provide .... for [the] ad- 
mission [of the new states] ... on an equal footing with 
the original states, . . . [it] is hereby ordained . . . that 
the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact 
between the original states, and the people and states in the 
said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by com- 
mon consent . . . : 

[Articles 1 to 4 guarantee personal religious and civil lib- 
erties and protection of Indian inhabitants, and impose certain 
conditions on the legislatures of the new territories and states.] 

Art. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less 
than three, nor more than five states. . . . And whenever any 



244 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the said stales, shall have 60,000 free inhabitants therein, 
such state shall be admitted ... on an equal footing with the 
original states, in all respects whatever. . . . 

Art 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
tude in the said territory. . . ." ^- 

Ordinancc of i/88 (adopted by Congress July 9, 1788). 
Whereas it is found to be inconvenient to execute that part 
of the land ordinance . . . [of] 1785, which directs that certain 
proportions of lands be allotted to the several states, to be sold 
by the loan officers in each state, . . . Be it ordained . . . 
That the board of the treasury be . . . directed to sell those 
parts . . . surveyed in the western territory . . . [and to] 
commence the sales at New- York or Philadelphia, and adjourn 
the same, from time to time, to any part or parts of the United 
States which they may judge most proper for the purpose." ^^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What was the financial weakness of the Confedera- 
tion? (2) How was it weak in control of foreign relations? 

(3) In what other respects did the Confederation lack strength? 

(4) Who were the men who called attention to its weakness ? 

(5) What remedy or remedies proposed by Congress? (6) 
What other remedies proposed? (7) What was the purpose 
and the result, of the Annapolis convention? (8) What were 
the chief points in dispute in the making of the Ordinances of 
1784 and 1785? (9) what was the defect in the Odinance of 
1785? (10) What section opposed the Ordinance of 1787? 
(11) Under the Ordinance of 1787, who made the laws for 
the territory until it had 5,000 free male inhabitants? (12) 
Who made its laws afterwards? (13) Was the territory rep- 
resented in Congress, under the Ordinance of 1787? (14) 
Was the territory under the Ordinance of 1787 "self-govern- 
ing"? 

II. (1) Make a list of all of the weaknesses of the Confed- 
eration. (2) Make a list of the proposals and attempts (to 
1786) to remedy these weaknesses. (3) Make a clear outline 
of the three stages of government under the Ordinance of 1787, 
with organs and powers in each stage. (4) What relation did 
the Ordinances of 1785 and 1788 have to those of 1784 and 
1787? (5) Compare the government of a territory under the 
Ordinance of 1787 with the English government of a "royal" 
colony about 1700. 

32. Way & Gideon, Jciurnal Continental Congress, IV, 751-754. 
ii. Same, 832-S33. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 245 

III. (1) Do you think it is correct to describe the Confedera- 
tion as a ''failure"? (2) Why has the Ordinance of 1787 al- 
ways been regarded as such a great or significant measure ? 
(3) Why was the anti-slavery clause accepted in 1787 when it 
had been rejected in 1784 and 1785? (4) What men are cred- 
ited with the authorship of the Ordinance of 1787? with the 
responsibility for the anti-slavery clause? (5) Compare terri- 
torial government under the Ordinance of 1787 with our pres- 
ent government in Hawaii, in Porto Rico, or in the Philippines. 
(6) What provision in the Ordinance of 1787 as to inheritance 
of property ? Intention ? 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent. 180-181; Ashley, 
191-200: Channing (revision 1908). 222-234; Hart, 191-206; 
James & Sanford. 191-195, 197; Macdonald"s Johnston, 171-177; 
McLaughlin, 217-224; McMaster, 163-165; Montgomerv (re- 
vision 1905), 22S-253; Thomas (revision 1903), 169-171. 



SECTION IV 

AMERICAN LIFE ABOUT 1780 TO 1800 

Travelers through the United States at the close of the 
Revoltitionary War discovered many changes from the con- 
ditions of life that had existed in 1700. A few of these 
changes, like democracy in government and society, and 
separation of church and state, owed their existence largely 
to the Revoltitionary movement. By far tlie larger number, 
however, were the product of the century of American de- 
velopment. First of all. in whatever state or section he 
traveled, the visitor perceived certain general characteristics 
common to all Americans : aggressive activity, inventiveness, 
ambition, assertion of equality, ctiriosity. Nevertheless, 
along the eastern coast he found increasing resemblances to 
European life and dress, manners, attempted class distinc- 
tions, and the conveniences and luxuries of home and social 
living. Cities had increased in number, size, appearance, 
and improvements. Settlement had both expanded and 
compacted. Means of communication, transportation, and 



246 AMERICAN HISTORY 

exchange had vastly improved. Beginnings had been made 
of permanent important trades and industries. 

Amidst all these influences tending to.wards American- 
ism, however, travelers found sectionalism on the increase. 
A free-soil, free-labor, severely-moral New England ; a 
half-free, indentured-labor, cosmopolitan and liberal middle 
group ; a predominantly slave-soil and slave-labor, feudal, 
aristocratic South — these stood out clearly. The disappear- 
ance of slavery from Pennsylvania north, and the beginning 
of its revival from Maryland south by the growth of cot- 
ton culture under the influence of the new cotton-gin, was 
inaugurating already a section struggle soon to overshadow 
all other movements within the Union. 

At the same time a fourth "section" was rising rapidly 
— the great trans-Alleghany West, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Ohio— with new and most striking characteristics of its 
own. The frontier had leaped the mountains ; and now the 
people in the valleys of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Ten- 
nessee, and their tributaries, carried on that warfare with 
Indians and new environment which a century before had 
been the work of the Atlantic coast states. 

It is this new and enlarged American life the source- 
extracts of this section attempt to portray. 

1. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 
a. An American View: 

Tenche Coxe,of Philadelphia: A Summary Statement of the 
principal facts which characterise the American People (1787- 
1794). "The people of the United States . . . , rejecting 
mere toleration, . . . have placed upon one common and equal 
footing every church, sect, or society of religious men. They 
. . . have made unexceeded progress in their practice upon 
the principles of free government. . . . The public debt is 
smaller, in proportion to the present wealth and population 
. . . , than the public debt of any other civilized nation. . . . 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 247 

The expenses of the government are very much less, in pro- 
portion to weahh and numbers, than those of any nation in 
Europe. . . . The manufactures of the United States consist 
generally of articles of comfort, utility, and necessity. Arti- 
cles of luxury, elegance, and show, are not manufactured in 
America, excepting a very few kinds. The manufactures . . . 
have increased very rapidly since . . . the revolutionary war. 
. . . Household manufactures are carried on within the fami- 
lies of almost all the farmers and planters, and of a great 
proportion of the inhabitants of the villages and towns. . . . 
The exports of the United States . . . consist in a great de- 
gree of the most necessary food of man and working animals ; 
and of new materials. . . . The imports of the United States 
are less in value than the exports. . . . The imports . . . 
have not swelled in proportion to the increase of their popula- 
tion and wealth. The reason is, the constant introduction of 
new branches of manufacture. . . . The imports . . . consist 
in a small degree of necessaries, in a great degree of articles 
of comfortable accommodation, and in some degree of luxuries. 
. . . Their commerce is diversified and prosperous. . . . There 
is no greater or other tax upon foreigners, or their property 
. . . than upon native citizens. . . . Almost every known 
christian church exists. . . . There are no titles. Marriage 
and burial fees, small glebes, land-rents, pew-rents, monies at 
interest, and voluntary contributions, are the principal means 
of supporting the clergy. Many of them are also professors 
and teachers in the universities, colleges, academies, and schools ; 
for which interesting stations, pious and learned ministers of 
religion are deemed particularly suitable. . . . The poor taxes 
. . . are very small, owing to the facility, with which every 
man and woman . . . can procure a comfortable subsistance. 
. . . The medium annual land rents of Europe are greater 
per acre than the medium purchase is in the United States. 
. . . The education of youth has engaged a great share of the 
attention of the legislatures of the states. Night schools for 
young men and boys, who are employed at labour or business 
in the day time, have been long and beneficially supported ; and 
the idea of Sunday schools has been zealously adopted in some 
places. Free schools for both sexes have been increased. 



248 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Greater retention, than heretofore, is paid to female education. 
The people of the United States are ingenious in the invention, 
and prompt, and accurate in the execution, of mechanism and 
workmanship. ... It is probable, that all the jewels and 
diamonds worn by citizens of the United States . . . are less 
in value than those which sometimes form a part of the dress 
of an individual in several countries of Europe. . . . There 
are no description of men in America, and very few individuals, 
. . . who live without some pursuit of business, profession, 
occupation, or trade. All tlic citiacns arc in uctiTC habits. 
No country of the same wealth, intelligence, and civilization, 

has so few menial scrz'ants America has not many 

charms for the dissipated and voluptuous part of mankind, Inil 
very many indeed for the rational, sober minded, and discreet. 
It is a country which affords great opportuntiies of comfort 
and prosperity ... to the industrious and honest poor. . . . 
The views of the government of the United .States appear 
. . . to be the maintenance of peace, order, liberty, and 
safety. . . ." ^ 

b. An English Opinion: 

Richard Parkinson : A JVarning to E}nigraiits (1805). 
". . .It will afford me infinite pleasure if the publication of 
the . . . account of my disappointments in America, should 
have the desired effect — that of preventing my countrymen from 
nmning headlong into misery, as myself and others have done. 
. . . [NJotwithstanding the low price at which the American 
lands are sold, the poverty of the soil is such, as to make it 
not pav for labour. . . . Now, with regard to the liberty and 
equality. . . . |.\]mong the white men in America, they are 
all Mr. and Sir; so that in conversation you cannot discover 
which is the master or which is the man. It is the same with 
the white women ; they are all Madam and Miss. . . . Now 
this sits so uneasy on an English servant that, by being called 
Mr. and Sir. he soon becomes the greatest puppy imaginable, 
and much unpleasanter even than the negro. ... It is the 
s;me with respect to the manner of wearing their hair: almost 



1. Tenche Co.xe, \'ie\v of the United States of America (Dublin, 1795). 
367-380. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 249 

every one, child or man, has his hair tied. The negro the same. 
. . . Perhaps ... it may be here said, that I have been dis- 
appointed and am a prejudiced man. No: I am not. I never 
had half the condescension shown me in the same time in 
England by gentlemen of superior rank to myself, as I have, 
had in America. . . . [I]t is allowed by every experienced 
man in America', that no man can work a farm at all to get 
a living upon it by slaves . . . ; therefore it shows plainly 
where the livelihood is got out of that poor soil — it is pinched 
and screwed out of the negro. ... I have been obliged to 
clean my own boots and shoes when I have had four servants 
in the house; and myself, wife and family, have risen in a 
morning to milk the cows when our servants were in bed 
. . . ; the idea of liberty and equality there destroys all the 
rights of the master, and every man does as he likes. Even 
taking fruit out of your garden, or orchard, is not looked upon 
as theft : nor riding your horse a few miles without leave. 
... I think the expences in America are three to one con.- 
pared with those in England. . . . The produce of the soil 
will do little more than find clothes and food for the man who 
cultivates it. . . . The only chance for sviccess I can see there, 
is the merchantile profession; especially if the merchant be 
a young, aspiring man, and possess a sufficiency of cunning. 
... It is worthy of remark, that, in every part of America 
where grain is cheap, clothing, coffee, tea, sugar, &c. are very 
dear ; — a bad thing for the farmer. . . . The independency of 
America may, in all probability, be one of the greatest mis- 
fortunes that ever befel it. The future success of America 
must arise from trade, . . . and will require a considerable 
navy to defend it. Where is that force to be found but in 
England ? . . . The Americans affirm they can . . . carry on 
manufactories of different kinds. I assert they cannot: they 
have neither men, money, nor materials, for such ptirposes. 
. . . [T J here is nothing wanted or used in America that the 
English manufacture, but they will send there cheaper than 
the Americans can make it, even to a gun-flint. ... It is 
possible that a man may live in America, but not with the 
same ease and satisfaction as he can in England. ... I think 
it an extraordinarily good place for a young person to go on 



250 AMERICAN HISTORY 

his outset in life ; or if a man should . . . have married a 
wife of a capricious disposition, let him take her to America, 
and keep her there three or four years in a country-place at 
some distance from a town, and afterwards bring her back to 
England : if she do not then act with propriety, he may be 
sure there is no remedy. . . . [A]s individuals, in agriculture 
each man's labour does little more than feed and clothe him ; 
manufactories they have none ; mines none that are worked, 
except iron ; and it is certain that their exports will not pay 
their imports. . . . They have no other resource, except 
being carriers at sea. . . . To look at America in the most 
favourable way you can, as a nation, there is nothing but ex- 
tent of territory to entitle it to the consequences it assumes. 
. . . The Jew in London being asked why there were not 
more of his persuasion in America, answered, that there the 
people were all Jews. . . . If . . . the Americans citi;^ens 
want anything as a nation, it is honour. . . ."- 

c. A French Interpretation: 

/. P. Brissif dc WarviUc: Amcrkan Freedom (1788-1792). 
"I assure you that the Americans are and will be for a long 
time free ; it is because nine-tenths of them live by agriculture ; 
and when there shall be five hundred millions of men in Amer- 
ica, all may be proprietors. . . . [There] you will see . . . 
the prodigious effects of liberty on morals, on industry, and on 
the amelioration of men. You will see those stern presbyte- 
rians, who, on the first settlement of their country, . . . could 
erect gibbets for those who thought differently from them- 
selves . . . [now] admitting all sects to equal charity and 
brotherhood. . . . [You] will see all the Americans, in whose 
minds the jealousy of the mother-country had disseminated the 
most absurd prejudices against all foreign nations, abjure those 
prejudices, reject every idea of war, and open the way to an 
universal confederation of the human race. . . . You will see 
them attempting all sort of speculations [experiments] ; openii;'.^ 
the fertile bosom of the soil, lately covered by forests; tracing 



2. R. Parkinson, A Tovtr in .Vmerica in 1798, 1799, and 1800 (London. 
1805), I, preface and parts of 5-31; II, parts of 636-654. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 251 

unknown seas ; establishing unknown communications, new 
markets ; naturalizing, in their country, those precious manu- 
factures which England had reserved to herself ; and, by this 
accumulation of the means of industry, they change the bal- 
ance [of trade] that was formerly against America, and turn 
it to their advantage. . . . You will see them invigorating their 
minds, and cultivating their virtues ; reforming their govern- 
ment ; using only the language of reason to convince the re- 
fractory; multiplying everywhere moral institution? and par- 
riotic establishments. ... In America, I found . . . prejudice 
in almost every stranger. The American revolution confounds 
them. They cannot familiarize the idea of a king-people. . . . 
A people grave, serious, and reflecting, cannot be judged of, 
and appreciated, but by a person of like character. . . . These 
Travels . . . prove the activity, the power, the happiness of 
the Americans ; that they are destined to be the first people 
on earth, without being the terror of others. . . . When will 
men be reasonable enough to encourage each other by their 
mutual aid . . . ? It is for republics to set the example ; vou 
see more of it in America than elsewhere. . . . You do not 
find among the Americans, that concealed pride which acquits 
a benefit, and dispenses with gratitude ; that selfish rudeness 
which makes of the English a nation by themselves, and ene- 
mies to all others. You will however, find sometimes vestiges 
of their indifference from other people, and their contempt for 
strangers who travel among them. For example, a stranger 
. . . , if he has the misfortune not to speak their language, is 
sometimes left alone ; no person takes notice of him. . . . 
The active genius of the Americans is always pushing them 
forward. Mr. Saugrain [another French traveler] has no doubt 
but sooner or later the Spaniards will be forced to quit the Mis- 
issippi, and that the Americans will pass it. and establish them- 
selves in Louisiana. . . . There exists ... a country where 
the Negroes are allowed to have souls. . . . Sixty years of 
combat were necessary to conquer the prejudice of avarice in 
America . . . ; yet . . . scarcely was independence declared. 
when a general cry arose against this commerce [slave-trade]. 
It appeared absurd for men defending their own liberty, to deny 
liberty to others. . . . Unhappily their opinion on this subject 



252 AMERICAN HISTORY 

has not yet become universal ; interest still combats it with some 
success in the Southern States . . . ; yet we may regard the 
general and irrevocable proscription of the slave trade in the 
United States, as very near at hand. . . . Indeed, nine States 
hiive already done it ; the Blacks, which there abound, are con- 
sidered as free. ... I am surprised . . . that the penalty of 
death is not totally abolished in this country. Manners here 
are so pure, the means of living so abundant, and misery so 
rare, that there can be no need of such horrid pains to prevent 
the commission of crimes. . . . It is a general remark through 
all the United States : a tavern-keeper must be a respectable 
man. his daughters are well drest, and have an air of decency 
and civility . . . ; neither the servants nor the coachmen ask 
any money. It is an excellent practise. . . . The Americans 
are not accustomed to what we call grand feasts; they treat 
strangers as they treat themselves every day, and they live 
well. ... I transport myself sometimes in imagination to 
the succeeding century. I see this whole extent of continent, 
from Canada to Quito, covered with cultivated fields, little 
villages, and country houses. I see Happiness and Industry, 
smiling side by side, . . . Liberty and Morals rendering almost 
useless the coercion of Government and Laws, and gentle Tol- 
erance taking place of the ferocious Inquisition. I see IMexi- 
cans, Peruvians, men of the United States, Frenchmen, and 
Canadians, embracing each other, cursing tyrants, and blessing 
the reign of Liberty. . . . Let the imagination of the philoso- 
pher contemplate the consequences. . . ." ^ 

2. SECTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS 
a. New England: 

Robert Gilmor of Baltimore: A Jflurncy through Nexv Eng- 
land (1797). ". . . at 1 o'clock in the morning we landed 
by moonlight on the wharf at New Port [R. I.] . . . glad 
to have another opportunity to sleep in clean beds. ... In the 
morning we called on Mrs Caton (a lady of our acquaintance 
in Balto . . . ). In the evening we returned [from another 



3. J. p. B. de Warville's New Travels in the United States (Dublin ed. 
1792), parts of .\xvi-xi and 237-272, 374, 448, 452. 482-483. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 253 

visit] to accompany Mrs. Caton to the play, (for it seemed 
there was a small company performing here) which was per- 
foimed over the market place. . . . The next day we hired a 
chaise and rode over the Beaches . . . and came into New 
Port on the other side. . . . The ride was delightful and lay 
through the richest and best cultivated country I ever saw. — 
The fences were made of stone which had been cleared off of 
the land and intersected each other so frequently, that when we 
regarded a hillside from an opposite one, it appeared like a 
richly coloured map. . . . [We] . . . hired a stage to take us 
on to Providence . . . ; after which we walked over the Town 
and along the wharves, by which lay many vessels. — Tho' this 
place & New Port are small, there are some of the richest & 
most extensive merchants in the United States residing in 
them. . . . There are a number of elegant houses in Provi- 
dence, chiefly built of wood and painted in a neat, handsome 
manner.— We left Providence the succeeding morning, and 
. . . arrived at Boston about 4 in the evening. . . . [Enter- 
ing Boston] We passed a number of carriages, in which were 
young ladies going to the country, and we were struck with 
the Beauty that seemed to prevail in New England. — Hardly 
one lady we saw could be called ugly. . . . Boston is a hand- 
some town, filled with well built houses in general, and some 
very superb ones, though mostly of wood. — The streets are 
however bad ; being narrow, wretchedly paved and no side 
way of brick for foot passengers ; my feet were quite sore with 
traversing the round stones. . . . On Friday ... I hired a 
hack (of which there are a great plenty, and some very hand- 
some, both coaches and chariots) and rode to Cambridge, . . . 
the seat of the University of that name. . . . — At Night we 
went to the play. . . . Saturday morning . . . [we] hired a 
gig & made a circuit of about 10 miles into the country. . . . 
On [the next] Thursday afternoon . . . [we] took our seats 
in the Salem Stage and at Dark arrived at Salem. . . . This 
place carries on an extensive commerce & had lately [sent] 
out more East Indiamen than all the rest of the United States 
together. ... In our way to Salem we passed through a num- 
ber of pretty little villages one of which, Lynn, is scarcely in- 
habited by any but shoemakers.^This little town supplies even 



254 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the Southern States with women shoes. . . . The women 
work also and we scarcely passed a house where the trade was 
not carried on. — A woman can make four pair a day & a man 
has been mentioned to me who could make double that quan- 
tity. . . . We left Salem about 7 the next morning in the 
Portsmouth stage. . . . [Near Portsmouth is the] Piscataqua 
bridge, which is the only one of the kind in America and a 
surprising work. — It's length is about 2200 feet . . . [with] 
a single arch of 240 feet . . . thrown over the deepest and 
most rapid part of the river. . . . The arch is not supported 
by the abutments but by braces . . . from above. . . . Monday 
afternoon I got into the Stage and returned to Boston by the 
way of Exeter & Haverhill. . . . Across [the Merrimack] 
. . is thrown one of the new constructed bridges like that of 
Piscataqua, only this has 3 arches instead of one, and the work 
which supports the whole is above instead of being just below 
the bridge. . . . The road by which I went [to Portsmouth] 
lay through all the principal trading towns to the Eastward of 
Boston, and in a great part in sight of the sea. — The one by 
which I returned was made for the convenience of a number 
of principal country towns. . . . [The] people of New Eng- 
land in general have adopted a number of words . . . that 
are not used in the same sense by the other part of America. 
. . . If I asked the way or an opinion, the answer always 
was preceded by / gncss. . . . — A handsome man they call a 
nice man &- I am frequently asked how long I mean to tarry 
in such a place, or if I made a tarry there. — These and some 
other expressions are common to a fault, and are used even 
b\ the best informed and educated people. ... On Friday 
... I ... set out in the stage for New York. . . . The 
towns through which we have passed in Connecticut are in 
general very pretty; Hartford is among the handsomest as it 
is the Capital as well as the largest town in the State. New 
Haven is nearly the same size as Hartford, but built in a 
much handsomer manner. 'S'ale College (the principal insti- 
tution of its kind in the States &■ perhaps in America) is placed 
in this town. . . . " * 



4. Robert C.ilmor, Tour to the Eastern States in 1797 (Boston, 1892), 
parts of 11-19. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 255 

b. The Middle States (Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey): 

Isaac Weld, Jr.: Journeys through the Middle States (1795- 
1796). "... [In Philadelphia the] houses within the limits 
of the city are for the most part built of brick; a few, and a 
few only, are of wood. In the old parts of town they are in 
general small, heavy, and inconvenient; but amongst those 
which have been lately erected, many are . . . light, airy, and 
commodious. ... As for the public buildings, they are all 
heavy tasteless piles of red brick, ornamented with . . . blue 
marble. . . . By the new penal laws of Pennslyvania, . . . 
no crime is punishable with death, excepting murder. . . . 
Every other offence ... is punished by solitary imprison- 
ment. . . . But punishment by imprisonment ... is imposed 
. . . for . . . [a] purpose, regarded by few penal codes in the 
world, the reform of the criminal. . . . Philadelphians are 
extremely deficient in hospitality and politeness towards strang- 
ers. ... It is only . . . since 1779, that any public amuse- 
ments have been suffered in this city. . . . Now, however, 
there are two theatres and an amphitheatre. . . . The carriages 
made use of in Philadelphia consist of coaches, chariots, chaises, 
coaches, and light waggons, the greater part of which are built 
in Philadelphia. ... In the United States . . . the lower 
classes of people will return rude and impertinent answers to 
questions couched in the most civil terms. . . . Civility can- 
not be purchased from them on any terms ; they seem to think 
that it is incompatible with freedom. . . . The only mode of 
conveyance which offers for a traveler [from one city to an- 
other] is the public stage waggon. . . . The country about 
Philadelphia is well cultivated, and it abounds with neat coun- 
try houses ; but it [is] . . . almost totally stripped of the trees, 
which have been cut down without mercy. . . . The fences 
are of the common post and rail, or of the angular kind. . . . 
[T]hree floating bridges . . . have been thrown across the 
river Schuylkill, . . . formed of large trees . . . chained to- 
gether . . . [and] boarded over. . . . On each side is a 
railing. When very heavy carriages go across .... they 
sink a few inches below the surface of the water ; but the 
passage is by no means dangerous. . . . [The] Brandy-wine 
River [is] remarkable for its mills, no less than thirteen being 



256 AMERICAN HISTORY i 

built almost close to each other upon it. . . . Vessels carrying 
1,000 bushels of wheat can come close up to them. . . . Wil- 
mington [Del.] . . . contains about six hundred houses, which 
are chiefly brick. . . . [At] Elktown [Md.], twenty-one miles 
distant from Wilmington, ... I first took notice of log- 
houses ; those which I had hitherto seen being built either of 
brick or stone, or else constructed with wooden frames, sheathed 
on the outside with boards. . . . The road between Philadelphia 
and Lancaster has lately undergone a thorough repair, and 
tolls are levied upon it, to keep it in order, under the direction 
of a company. . . , This is the first attempt to have a turn- 
pike road in Pennsylvania, and it is by no means relished by 
the people at large. . . . On the whole road from Philadelphia 
to Lancaster there are not any two dwellings standing together, 
excepting at a small place called Downing's Town, which lies 
about mid-way ; numbers of farm houses, however, are scattered 
over the country as far as the eye can reach. These houses 
are mostly built of stone. . . . The farms . . . contain about 
two hundred acres each. . . . Adjoining to the houses there is 
generally a peach or an apple orchard. . . . Gardens are very 
rare in the country parts of Pennsylvania . . . ; in the neigh- 
borhood of towns, however, they are common. . . . [The] style 
of farming is on the whole very slovenly. . . . The [English] 
farmer . . . who rents fifty acres lives far more comfortably 
. . . than the farmer ... in any ... of the middle states, 
. . . I hardly know whether to ascribe [it] to their love of 
making money, or to their real indifference about better fare. 
. . . The taverns throughout this part of the country are kept 
by farmers, and they are all very indifferent. ... Of all 
beings on earth, Americans are the most interested and cov- 
etous. It is scarcely possible to go one mile on this road with- 
out meeting numbers of waggons passing and repassing between 
the back parts of the state and Philadelphia. These waggons 
are commonly drawn by four or five horses, four of which are 
yoked in pairs. The waggons are heavy, the horses small, and 
the driver unmerciful. . . . The inhabitants of . . . Lancaster 
and of the adjoining country, consist principally of Dutch and 
German emigrants and their descendants. Great numbers of 
these people emigrate to America every year . . . from the 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 257 

Hanse Towns and Rotterdam. . . . [Masters of Vessels] 
on arriving" there, entice on board as many of these people as 
they can persuade to leave their native country, without de- 
manding any money for their passage. When the vessel ar- 
rives in America, . . . these poor Germans are . . . sold 
to the highest bidder. . . . [This] trade [is] vulgarly called 
' The white slave trade.' . . . [It] is not to be understood 
that they are sold forever, but only . . . for two, three, four, 
or five years . . . ; they are as much under dominion as 
negro slaves. . . . The laws respecting ' redemptioners,' so are 
the men called . . . , are very severe. The Germans are a 
quiet, sober, and industrious set of people, . . . and are won- 
derfully attentive to the duties of religion. In these and many 
other respects . . . [they] differ widely from the Americans, 
that is, from the descendants of the English, Scotch, Irish, and 
other nations. . . . [At Princeton, N. J.] is a large college, 
held in much repute by the neighbouring states . . . , [but] 
like all the other American colleges I ever saw. it better de- 
serves the title of grammar- school than a college. . . . The 
middle part [of New Jersey], which is crossed in going from 
Philadelphia to New York, ... is on the whole well culti- 
vated, and scattered about in dift'erent places are some excel- 
lent farm houses. . . . Many of the private houses in New 
York [City] are very good, particularly those in Broadway. 
Of the public buildings there are none which are very striking. 
The churches . . . amount to no less than twenty-two. . . . 
According to the census of 1790, the number of inhabitants 
. . . [was] thirty thousand . . . free persons, and two thou- 
sand . . . slaves. . . . The inhabitants have long been dis- 
tinguished above those of all the other towns in the United 
States, except it be the people of Charleston, for their polite- 
ness, gaiety, and hospitality. . . . Their public amusements 
consist in dancing and card assemblies, and theatrical exhibi- 
tions. . . . Albany . . . contains about eleven hundred houses. 
... In the old part of the town the streets are very narrow 
and the houses are frightful ; they are all built in the old Dutch 
taste, with the gable end towards the street, and ornamented 
on the top with large iron weather cocks ; but in that part which 
has been lately erected, the streets are commodious, and many 



258 AMERICAN HISTORY 

of the houses are handsome. Great pains have been taken to 
have the streets well paved and lighted. . . . " ^ 

c. The South: 

Isaac Weld, Jr.: Some Southern Characteristics (1795-1797). 
"lAmongst the inhabitants ... in the lower parts of Virginia 
there is a disparity [inequality] unknown elsewhere in America, 
excepting in the large towns. Instead of the lands being equally 
divided, immense estates are held by a few individuals, who 
derive large incomes from them, whilst the generality of the 
people are but in a state of mediocrity. Most of the men, 
also, who possess these large estates, having received liberal 
educations, which the others have not, the distinction between 
them is still more observable. . . . The principal planters in 
Virginia have nearly everything they want on their own estates. 
Amongst their slaves are found taylors, shoemakers, carpenters, 
smiths, turners, wheelwrights, weavers, tanners, &c. I have 
seen patterns of excellent coarse woolen cloth made in the 
country by slaves, and a variety of cotton manufactures. . . . 
The large estates are managed by stewards and overseers, the 
proprietors just amusing themselves with seeing what is going 
forward. The work is done wholly by slaves. . . . The slaves 
on the large plantations are in general very well provided for, 
and treated with mildness. During three months nearly, that 
I was in Virginia, but two or three instances of ill treatment 
towards them came under my observation. Their quarters . . . 
are usually situated one or two hundred yards from the dwell- 
ing house, which gives the appearance of a village to the resi- 
dence of every planter in Virginia. . . . Many of their little 
huts are comfortably furnished, and they are themselves, in 
general, extremely well clothed. In short, their condition is by 
no means so wretched as might be imagined. They are forced 
to work certain hours in the day ; but in return they are clothed, 
dieted, and lodged comfortably, and saved all anxiety about 
their offspring. . . . What I have here said . . . [applies] 
to those only who are upon the large plantations in Virginia; 



5. Isaac Weld, Jr., Travels through North America, 1795-1797 (London, 
1799), I, parts of 1-31, 110-123, 256-271. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 259 

the lot of such as are unfortunate enough to fall into the 
hands of the lower class of white peop le, and of hard task- 
masters in the towns, is very different^ In the Carolinas and 
Georgia, again, slavery presents itself in very different col- 
ours from what it does even in its worst form in Virginia. I am 
told, that it is no uncommon thing there, to see gangs of 
negroes staked at a horse race, and to see these unfortunate 
beings bandied about from one set of drunken gamblers to an- 
.other for days together. . . . [EJxtensive tracts of waste land 
[exist], worn out by the culture of tobacco. ... A ruinous 
system has prevailed also of working the same piece of land 
year after year, till it was totally exhausted ; after this it was 
. j^ left waste. . . . Tobacco is not near so much cul- 
tTvated now as it was formerly, the great demand for wheat 
having induced most of the planters [of M aryland, and Vir- 
-giniaj to raise that grain in preference.-: . y Though many 
"oi the houses; . . . are built . . .of brick and stone, in the 
style of old English manor houses, yet the greater number 
. . . throughout Virginia, are of wood; amongst which are 
all those that have been built of late years. ... In front of 
every house is a porch. . . .These porches afford an agreeable 
shade from the sun during summer. The hall, or saloon as 
it is called, is always a favourite apartment, during the hot 
weather, ... on account of the draught of air through it, 
and is usually furnished similar to a parlour, with sofas, &c. 
. . . [At Williamsburg] The college of William and Mary 
... is a heavy pile, which bears . . . close resemblance to 
a large brick kiln. . . . The students were about thirty in 
number . . . : from their appearance . . . | it] ought rather 
to be termed a grannnar school than a college. . . . The pro- 
fessorships, as they now stand, are for law, medicine, natural 
and moral philosophy, mathematics, and modern languages. 



6. Isaac Weld, Jr., Travels through North America, 1795-1797 (London, 
1799), I, parts of 145168. 



260 AMERICAN HISTORY 

d. The Trans-Alleghany West: 

/. P. Brissot de Warville: The- American West (1788-1792). 
"I have not time, my friend, to describe to you the new coun- 
try of the West : which, though at present unknown to the 
Europeans, must from the nature of things, very soon merit 
the attention of every comiliercial and manfacturing nation. 
... At the foot of the Alleganies . . . begins an immense 
plain, . . . watered every where with streams of all sizes ; 
the soil is . . . of an astonishing fertility. . . . It is there 
those establishments are formed, whose prosperity attracts so 
many emigrants ; such as Kentucky, Frankland, Cumberland, 
Holston, Muskingum, and Scioto. The oldest and most flour- 
ishing of these is Kentucky, which began in 1775, had eight 
thousand inhabitants in 1782, fifty thousand in 1787, and sev- 
enty thousand in 1790. It will soon be a State. Cumberland 
[central Tennessee] . . . contains 8000 inhabitants, Holston 
[east Tennessee] 5000, and Frankland [east Tennessee], 25,000. 
. . . The establishment on the Muskingum [Ohio] was formed 
in 1788, by a number of emigrants from New-England, belong- 
ing to the Ohio Company. . . . From these proprietors is 
formed another association, . . . that of the Scioto Company. 
. . . There is nothing to fear, that the danger from the sav- 
ages will ever arrest the ardour of the Americans for extend- 
ing their settlements. ... A degree of diffidence, which the 
inhabitants of the West have shewn relative to the secret de- 
signs of Congress in regard to the freedom of navigation of 
the Mississippi river], has induced many people to believe, 
that the union would not exist for a long time between the old 
and new States. . . . But a number of reasons determine me 
to believe, that the present union will for ever subsist. . . ."^ 

Thomas Ashe: A Tour of the West in i8o6. "... The 
American states through which I have passed, are unworthy of 
your observation. Those to the north-east [New England] are 
indebted to nature for but few gifts. . . . The climate is 
equally subject to the two extremes of burning heat and ex- 
cessive cold ; and bigotry, pride, and a malignant hatred to the 



7. J. P. B. de Warville's New Travels in the United States (Dublin ed., 
1792), parts of 474-480. 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 261 

mother country, characterize the inhabitants. The middle 
States are less contemptible : they produce wheat for exporta- 
tion. . . . The national features here are not strong . . . ; 
we still see the liberal English, the ostentatious Scotch, the 
warm-hearted Irish, the penurious Dutch, the proud Germans, 
the solemn Spaniard, the gaudy Italian, and the profligate 
French. What kind of character is hereafter to arise from 
an amalgamation of such discordant materials, I am at a loss 
to conjecture. For the southern States, nature has done much, 
but man little. Society is here in shameful degeneracy. . . . 
I shun the humiliating delineation, and turn my thoughts to 
happier regions . . . [the West] where mankind, scattered 
in small associations, are not totally depraved or finally cor- 
rupt. . . . The town of Pittsburg is distant rather more than 300 
miles from Philadelphia. . . . Knowing the road to be moun- 
tainous and stony, I preferred traveling on horseback to going 
in a stage-coach, that is seven or eight days on the road, and 
the fare in which, for the whole journey, is twenty dollars. 
The first sixty miles were, a turnpike road. . . . [Afterwards] 
I met with . . . immense hills, bad roads, and frightful preci- 
pices : . . . the tavern ... a miserable log-house, filled with 
emigrants who were in their passage to the Ohio. ... In 
tiavelling along this and every other road in America, a stranger 
is furnished with a route indicating the best inns and their 
distances from each other ; as to the expense, it seldom varies : 
being a quarter of a dollar for lodging, the same sum for 
every meal, and half a dollar a night for a horse. . . . The 
principal inhabitants of Pittsburg are Irish, or of Irish origin : 
this accounts for the commercial spirit of the place, and the 
good-breeding and hospitality. ... I have left Pittsburg, . . . 
and am about to descend the Ohio. . . . The first thing . . . 
is to procure a boat, to be ready so as to take advantage of 
the times of flood. . . . Flat bottomed boats may be procured 
almost every where. . . . Keel boats and vessels of burden 
are also built. ... A quantity of fuel, provisions, and other 
necesaries, should be laid in ... , and ... a skiff or canoe 
... to land on shore when necessary. . . . Boats have fre- 
quently passed from Pittsburg to the mouth of the Ohio in 
fifteen days. However, twenty days is a good spring passage. 



262 AMERICAN HISTORY 

In summer, six, eight, and even ten weeks are often required. 
. . . [The Northwest] tolerates no slavery. This . . . has 
already given it the name of the independent country ; the 
state where man is free but not licentious. In consequence, 
. . . enemies to intolerance and- oppression, whether christian 
or political, have settled in the state [of Ohio], and are daily 
followed by thousands who either admire, or affect to advo- 
cate their principles and doctrines. . . . [A] mail coach is 
established . . . from Philadelphia to Lexington in Kentucky, 
through Pittsburg, Wheeling, and Chillicothe, a distance of 
upwards of seven hundred miles, to be performed by contract 
in fifteen days. Small inns are to be found every ten, or twelve 
miles of the route. They are generally log huts of one apart- 
ment, and the entertainment consists of bacon, whiskey, and 
Indian bread. . . . Marietta [on the Ohio side] is situated 
cic the . . . [mouth] ... of the Great Muskingham . . . 
[and consists] of about one hundred and sixty houses, frame 
and brick. . . . [It] is a port town, issues a weekly paper, and 
possesses an academy, court-house, prison, and church. The 
latter ... is the only one . . . between this and Pittsburg; 
a distance of one hundred and eighty-one miles. . . . No 
mobs, no fighting, no racing, no rough and tumi)ling, or any- 
thing to be observed but industry, and a persevering applica- 
tion to individual views. . . . the original settlers . . . were 
New Englanders. ... I have just returned from a tour of 

ten days into the interior of Kentucky \rriving at the 

summit [of a hill back of Maysville, on the Ohio], I [saw] 
. . a plain, thickly settled with excellent well built farm 
houses, and raising wheat and corn of . . . strength and 
luxuriance. ... I mounted my horse, and continued the road 
to Lexington. . . . and the road . . . is a mere buffalo track, 
following skillfully the ridges of hills and mountains. . . . 
Lexington [Ky.] ... is composed of upwards of three hun- 
dred houses ranged into streets intersecting each other at right 
angles. They are built principally of brick. . . . The public 
buildings consist of a University, Court-house, Market, Hall, 
Bank, and four Churches, . . . one Lutheran, one Presbyterian, 
and two sects of Methodists. The inhabitants shew demonstra- 
tions of civilization ; but at particular times, on Sundays and 



REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE 263 

market-days, they give a loose to their dispositions, and exhibit 
many traits that should exclusively belong to untutored sav- 
ages. . . . The prevailing individual amusements of Lexington 
are drinking and gambling, at billards and cards . . . The 
public amusements consist of concerts and balls. . . . The 
market is abundantly supplied v^ith every article of provision, 
found in the first markets of Europe, except fish. . . . The 
farms in the vicinity of Lexington are very neat, and many of 
them affect the English manner. The produce is great, the 
price low. . . . [Returning to the Ohio side of the river] 
Cincinnati ... is now the largest town of the Ohio State . . . 
I and] consists of about three hundred houses, frame and log. 
. . . The public buildings consist of a court-house, prison, and 
two places of worship ; and two printing-presses are established. 
. . . These regions are already making rapid strides in agri- 
culture, and as Cincinnati is the emporium, its trade must be 
. . . ultimately great. . . . [The] society of the town . . . 
is . . . heterogeneous. . . . [The] people . . . are orderly, 
decent, sociable, liberal and unassuming. . . . The amuse- 
ments consist of balls and amateur plays. . . ." [Near Lou- 
isville, on the Kentucky side] I found the country exceedingly 
well timbered. . . . Numerous farms chequered this rich scene, 
producing wheat, corn, oats, flax, hemp, tobacco, cotton, and vege- 
tables of all kinds. . . . The wheat promising sixty, and the corn 
one hundred bushels per acre, in many well cultivated planta- 
tions. The fruit made no appearance. ... I stopped at the 
house of a cultivator. . . . [The] house . . . was a log one, 
fitted up very well. . . . The dinner consisted of a large piece 
of salt bacon, a dish of homslie, and a turreen of squirrel broth. 
. . . The Kentuckyan ate nothing but bacon, which indeed is 
the favourite diet of all the inhabitants of this State, and drank 
nothing but whiskey. ... In a country . . . where bacon 
and spirits form the favourite summer repast, it cannot be just 
to attribute [so much sickness] entirely ... to the climate. 
. . . Tennessee State bears a very high character. . . . Very 
valuable articles are exported. . . . Fine waggon and saddle 
horses, beef, cattle, ginseng, deer-skins and furs, cotton, hemp 
and flax ; also iron, timber, pork and flour. The State Gov- 



264 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ernment have very judiciously erected public schools ... in 
the principal towns. . . . " * 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) Did American manufactures increase between 1700 
and the close of the Revolutionary period? (2) In what sec- 
tion was the most manufacturing done? (3) Where and by 
whom was the work of manufacturing carried on in any given 
locality? (4) What change had taken place since 1700 in the 
condition of the church in America? (5) Of what were the 
majority of American homes constructed in 1780-1800? (6) 
What were the chief methods of travel at this time? (7) 
What were the chi ef impediments to travel? (8) What amuse- 
ments did Americans have about 1790? (9) Was slavery more 
or less mild in Virginia than in the Carolinas ? (10) What 
effect did slavery have on whites? (11) How could one reach 
the West in 1800? (12) Into what two general groups was 
the West divided? (13) What were the chief products of the 
West? (14) What were the chief characteristics of Ohio? 
(15) Of Kentucky? (16) From what different sources did 
the population of the West come ? 

II. (1) Make a list of what impresses you as the most marked 
contrasts between American life in 1700 and in 1780 to 1800. 

(2) Make a list of those American conditions in 1780-1800 
that you think would have attracted European immigrants. 

(3) Compare Northern, Southern and W^estern amusements. 

(4) Compare characteristics of Ohio and Kentucky. (5) What 
different kinds of labor found in the United States in 1780- 
1800? (6) Which portion of the West of 1800 attracts you the 
most? Why? 

HI. (l)'What characteristics of American life in 1780-1800 
still remain? (2) What are the most noticeable ones that have 
disappeared or changed? (3) How do you explain the dif- 
ferent views of American conditions taken by the various 
writers? (4) Do you think the sentiment of "equality" is 
stronger or weaker now than in 1780-1800? What evidence? 

(5) What changes in heating, lighting, costume, communica- 
tion, and monetary system since 1700? 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent, 191-195; Ashley, 
218-229; Hart, 220-233; James & Sanford, 207-213; Macdon- 
ald's Johnston, 183-185; McMaster, 175-196. 



8. Thomas Ashe, Travels in North America in 1806 (London, 1808). parts 
of 11-90, 103, 122-123, 185-203, 240-241. 



CHAPTER III 
THE MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION— 1786-1841 

The work of the period 1786 to 1841 was twofold: (1) 
the conversion of a loosely-bound-together group of States 
into a nation; (2) the making of the government of this 
nation democratic. The Constitution and organization of 
government under it began the first of these processes. 
But this was the work of an aristocratic class of American 
leaders like Hamilton, who believed that government should 
be by the " well-born," the " educated," the " capable," and 
that it should care particularly for the interests of the peo- 
ple of " property and information." Under their control, 
the new government made more rapid progress towards 
centralization than the majority of the people were yet 
ready for, and indulged in anti-democratic legislation that 
contributed to, if it did not cause the downfall of, the Fed- 
eralists. 

Jeffersonian Republicanism came as a check on Hamil- 
tonian centralization, and as the substitution of Republican- 
ism for aristocracy: " Republicanism " at that time meaning 
the capacity of the people to choose their own leaders, but 
to choose them from among the educated or " better " 
classes. Jeffersonian Republicanism thoroughly overthrew 
the old Federalist aristocratic ideas and practices in gov- 
ernment, but failed to keep pace with the growth of the 
people themselves in national spirit. 

To meet the new need, there arose the Young or Na- 
tional Republicans, who, to maintain national dignity, 
forced the War of 1812 and followed it with their national- 
izing policies of tariff, bank, and internal improvements. 
However, they still clung to the old Republican ideal that 

265 



266 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the officers of government should come from the " better 
classes." The people had now advanced beyond this, to a 
belief that thev were not only competent to choose, but also 
themselves to be, the officers of their government. Jack- 
sonian Democracy was the realization of this new principle 
and its success, therefore, marked the accomplishment of 
the twofold work of the period of 1786 to 1841— (1) the 
making of a national government, and (2) the making of 
this national government one by the people as well as for 
the people. 

SECTION I 
FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION— 1786-1789 

The material in this section is intended to show how the 
weaknesses of the Confederation discussed in the preceding 
section were remedied, and a more national government 
provided for. As the source extracts will show, the remedy 
first proposed was the amendment of the Articles of Con- 
federation. But from the beginning some were favorable 
to making an entirely new constitution based on the national 
idea. The Constitutional Convention became, in fact, chiefly 
a struggle between these two schools — nationalism and lo- 
calism ; and resulted in the establishment of a " federal " 
government — at that time a unique form of union. 

Other disputes, however, arose in the convention : (1) 
between the large and the small States over representation 
in Congress; (2) between the sections over slave represen- 
tation and restriction of the slave trade. These, too, were 
settled by compromises. 

In the struggle over ratification, the chief criticism came 
from those who feared so much power had been taken from 
the States and given to the National Government that the 
latter would in time extinguish the former. But there was 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 267 

also criticism by those who thou^iht incKvidual libert}' en- 
dangered by a government so remote from the people and 
their direct influence. The suggestion made in the Massa- 
chusetts ratifying convention, that these dangers might be 
removed bv amendments to the new Constitution, enabled 
its friends to secure its adoption by the requisite number of 
states. 

1. PRELIMINARIES TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CON- 
VENTION 

a. The Annapolis Convention: 

Resolution of Virginia House of Delegates (Jan. 21, 1786). 
" That Edmund Randolph, James Madison [and others] . . . 
be appointed commissioners, who, or any five of whom, shall 
meet such commissioners as may be appointed by the other 
States in the Union, at a time and place to be agreed upon, to 
take into consideration the trade of the United States; to ex- 
amine the relative situation and trade of the said States ; to 
see how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations 
may conduce to their common welfare and their permanent 
harmony . . . ; that the said commissioners shall immediately 
transmit to the several States copies of the preceding resolution, 
with a circular requesting their concurrence therein, and pro- 
posing a time and place for the meeting Agreed to by 

the Senate. . . . Patrick Henry, Governor." ^ 

Report of the Annapolis Convention (Sept. 14, 1786). 
"... The commissioners from the said States [of Virginia, 
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York] . . . 
assembled at Annapolis, humbly beg leave to report : . . . 
That . . . your commissioners did not conceive it advisable 
to proceed on the business of their mission under the circum- 
stances of so partial and defective a representation. . . . 
Your commissioners submit an opinion, that the idea of extend- 
ing the powers of their deputies to other objects than those of 



1. Jonathan Elliott, Debates on the Federal Constitution, I, 115-116. 



268 AMERICAN HISTORY 

commerce, which has been adopted by the State of New Jersey, 
was an improvement on the original plan. . . . Your commis- 
sioners . . . beg leave to suggest . . . that . . . the 
States by whom they have been . . . delegated . . . concur, 
and use their endeavors to procure the concurrence of the other 
States, in the appointment of commissioners, to meet at Phila- 
delphia on the second Monday in May next, to take into con- 
sideration the situation of the United States ; to devise such 
further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render 
the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the 
exigencies of the Union ; and to report such an act to that 
purpose, to the United States in Congress assembled, as, when 
agreed to by them, and afterwards confirmed by the legislatures 
of every State, will effectually provide for the same." - 

Congressional Call of a Convention (Feb. 21, 1787). "Re- 
solved, That in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that, 
on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates, 
who shall have been appointed by the several States, be held 
at Philadelphia, for the sole purpose of revising the Articles of 
Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several legis- 
latures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when 
agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the States, render the 
Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government 
and the preservation of the Union." ^ 

b. Instructions of State Delegates to the Constitutional Con- 
vention: 

Georgia. — " Be it ordained by the representatives of the 
State of Georgia, . . . that William Few [and others] . . . 
be . . . appointed commissioners ... to meet such depu- 
ties as may be appointed and authorized by other States, . . . 
and to join with them in devising and discussing all such al- 
terations and further provisions as may be necessary to render 
the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the 
Union. . . ." 

Massachusetts. — '" Whereas, Congress did . . . Resolve, 
That a convention of delegates ... be held at Philadelphia, 



2. E. H. Scott, Madison's Journal of the Constitutional Convention, 38-44. 

3. Gideon & Way, Journals of Continental Congress, IV, 723. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 269 

for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of 
Confederation. . . . Now, therefore, [Francis Dana, Elbridge 
Gerry, Nathaniel Gorhani, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong are 
commissioned as delegates to said convention]." 

Connecticut. — " Whereas, The Congress of the United 
States, . . . have recommended that ... a convention 
... be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose 
of revising the Articles of Confederation ; [names of delegates 
follow]." 

New York. — ■" Resolved, That Hon. Robert Yates, John 
Lansing, Jr., and Alexander Hamilton, Esqs., be . . . ap- 
pointed delegates ... to meet such delegates ... at Phila- 
delphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Arti- 
cles of confederation . . . [etc., as in Georgia]." 

New Jersey. — •"■ The Council and Assembly have appointed 
you [giving the names] to meet such commissioners ... as 
may be appointed by the other States in the Union, . . . 
for the purpose of taking into consideration the state of the 
Union, as to trade and other important objects, and of devising 
such other provisions as shall appear to be necessary to render 
the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the 
exigencies thereof. . . ." 

Pennsylvania.—" Be it enacted . . . that [names of mem- 
bers] are hereby constituted and appointed deputies from this 
State ... to meet such deputies as may be appointed . . . 
by other States . . . and join with them in devising, delib- 
erating on, and discussing all such alterations and further pro- 
visions as may be necessary to render the Federal Constitution 
fully adequate to the exigencies of the Union. . . ." 

Delaware, Maryland, Virginia. — Practically the same word- 
ing as Pennsylvania. 

North Carolina. — " For the purpose of revising the Federal 
Constitution." 

South Carolina. — " I do hereby commission you [giving 
names] ... to meet such deputies [from other States] 
. . . and to join with [them] in devising and discussing all 
such alterations, clauses, articles, and provisions as may be 
thought necessary to render the Federal Constitution entirely 



270 AMERICAN HISTORY 

adequate to the actual situation and future good government of 
the Confederate States. . . ." 

Nezv Hampshire. — " ... To remedy the defects of our 
Federal Union " * 

2. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 

a. Plans Presented to the Convention: 

Randolph's or the Virginia Plan (May 29, 1787). Mr. Ran- 
dolph [Va.] observed, that, in revising the federal system, we 
ought to inquire, first, into the properties which such a govern- 
ment ought to possess ; secondly, the defects of the Confedera- 
tion ; thirdly, the danger of our situation ; and fourthly, the 
remedy. 

1. The character of such a government ought to be secure, 
first, against foreign invasion ; secondly, against dissensions 
between the members of the Union, or seditions in particular 
States : thirdly, to procure to the several States various bless- 
ings of which an isolated situation was incapable ; fourthly, it 
should be able to defend itself against encroachments; and 
fifthly, to be paramount to the State constitutions. 

2. He then proceeded to enumerate the defects : First, that 
the Confederation produced no security against foreign inva- 
sion ; Congress not being permitted to prevent a war, nor to 
support it by their own authority. . . . Secondly, that the 
Federal Government could not check the quarrel between the 
States, nor a rebellion in any, not having constitutional power 
nor means to impose according to the exigency. Thirdly, that 
there were many advantages which the United States might 
acquire, which were not attainable under the Confederation — 
such as a productive impost. . . . Fourthly, that the Federal 
Government could not protect itself against encroachments 
from the States. Fifthly, that it was not even paramount to 
the State constitutions. ... 

3. He next reviewed the danger of our situation, and ap- 
pealed to the sense of the best friends of the United States — 
to the prospect of anarchy from the laxity of government 
everywhere — and to other considerations. 



4. Elliott, Debates on Federal Constitution, I, 126-138. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 271 

4. He then proceeded to the remedy, the basis of which, 
he said, must be the republican principle. He proposed as 
conformable to his ideas, the following resolutions, which he 
explained one by one : 

(1) Resolved, that the Articles of Confederation ought to 
be so corrected and enlarged as to accomplish the objects pro- 
posed by their institution; namely, "common defense, security 
of liberty, and general welfare." . . . 

(2) Resolved, . . . that the rights of suffrage in the 
National Legislature ought to be proportioned to the quotas 
of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants. . . . 

(3) Resolved, that the National Legislature ought to con- 
sist of two branches. 

(4) Resolved, that the members of the first branch . . . 
ought to be elected by the people of the several States. . . 

(5) Resolved, that the members of the second branch . . . 
ought to be elected by those of the first [branch], out of a 
proper number of persons nominated by the individual legis- 
latures. . . . 

(7) Resolved, that a National Executive be instituted, to 
be chosen by the National Legislature. . . . 

(9) Resolved, that a National Judiciary be established. . . . 

(10) Resolved, that provision ought to be made for the 
admission of [new] States lawfully arising. . . . 

(11) Resolved, that a republican government . . . ought 
to be guaranteed by the United States to each State. 

(13) Resolved, that provision ought to be made for the 
amendment of the Articles of Union, whensoever it shall seem 
necessary. . . . 

(14) Resolved, that the legislative, executive, and judiciary 
powers within the several States ought to be bound by oath to 
support the Articles of Union. 

(15) Resolved, that the amendments which shall be offered 
to the Constitution, by the convention, ought ... to be sub- 
mitted to . . . assemblies ... to be expressly chosen by 
the people [of each State] to consider and decide thereon." ^ 

Randolph's alteration of His Plan (May 30, 1787). The 



5. E. H. Scott, Madison's Journal, 59-64. 



272 AMERICAN HISTORY 

proposition of Mr. Randolph . . . being taken up, he moved 
. . . that the first of his propositions . . . be . . . post- 
poned, in order to consider the three following: 

1. That a union of the States merely federal will not ac- 
complish the objects proposed by the Articles of Confederation ; 
namely, common defense, security of liberty, and general wel- 
fare. 

2. That no treaty or treaties among the whole or part of the 
States, as individual sovereignties, would be sufficient. 

3. That a national government ought to be established, con- 
sisting of a supreme legislative, executive, and judiciary."® 

Patterson's or the New Jersey Plan (June 15, 1787). "Mr. 
Patterson [N. J.] laid before the convention the plan which he 
said several of the deputations wished to be substituted in place 
of that proposed by Mr. Randolph . . . : 

1. Resolved, that the Articles of Confederation ought to be 
so revised, corrected, and enlarged as to render the Federal 
Constitution adequate. . . . 

2. Resolved, that in addition to the powers [now] vested 
in . . . Congress, . . . they be authorized to pass acts for 
raising a revenue, by levying a duty or duties on all goods 
. . . imported into . . . the United States [and] by stamps 
. . . and . . . postage . . . ; to pass acts for the regula- 
tion of trade and commerce. . . . 

3. Resolved, that . . . Congress be authorized to make 
. . . requisitions in proportion to the whole number of . . . 
free citizens and inhabitants, . . . including . . . three-fifths 
of all other persons . . . except Indians not paying taxes ; that, 
if such requisitions be not complied with, . . . [Congress to 
have authority] to direct the collection thereof in the non- 
complying States. . . . 

4. Resolved, that the United States in Congress be author- 
ized to elect a Federal Executive, to consist of persons. 

5. Resolved, that a Federal Judiciary be established. . . . 

6. Resolved, that ... if any State . . . shall oppose 
or prevent the carrying into execution [of] . . . acts or 



6. E. H. Scott, Madison's Journal, 73. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 273 

treaties, the Federal Executive sliall be authorized to call forth 
the power of the Confederate States ... to enforce and com- 
pel an obedience. . . . 

7. Resolved, that provision be made for the admission of 
new States into the Union. . . ." ^ 

b. Debates: 

Members of Lower House of Cotigress to be Elected by 
State Legislatures, or by the People? 

" Mr. Sherman [Conn.] opposed the election by the people 
insisting that it ought to be by the State legislatures. The 
people, he said, immediately, should have as little to do as may 
be about the government. They want information, and are 
constantly liable to be misled. 

Mr. Gerry [Mass.]. The evils we experience flow from 
the excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but 
are dupes of pretended patriots. . . . 

Mr. Mason [Va.] argued strongly for an election of the 
larger branch by the people. . . . He admitted we had been 
too democratic, but was afraid we should incautiously run to 
the opposite extreme. . . . 

Mr. Wilson [Pa.] contended strenuously for drawing the 
most numerous branch of the Legislature immediately from the 
people. . . . No government could long subsist without the 
confidence of the people. . . . 

Mr. Madison [Va.] considered the popular election of one 
branch of the National Legislature as essential to every plan 
of free government. ... He thought . . . that the great 
fabric to be raised would be more stable and durable if it should 
rest on the solid foundation of the people themselves, than if 
it should stand merely on the pillars of the legislatures." ^ 

Equal or Proportional Representation of States in Congress f 

" Mr. Patterson [N. J.] considered the proposition for a 
proportional representation as striking at the existence of the 
lesser States. . . . The convention, he said, was formed in 
pursuance of an act of Congress; . . . the amendment of the 
Confederacy was the object. . . . The idea of a National 

7. E. H. Scott, Madison's Journal, 163-166. 

8. Same, 78-80. 



274 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Government, as contradistinguished from a federal one, never 
entered into the mind of any. . . . We have no power to go 
beyond the federal scheme ; and if we had, the people are not 
ripe for any other. . . . New Jersey will never confederate 
on the [Randolph] plan. . . . 

Mr. Wilson [Pa.] . . . [argued] that, as all authority 
was derived from the people, equal numbers of people ought 
to have an equal number of representatives, and different num- 
bers of people, different numbers of representatives." "... 
" With regard to the power of the convention, he conceived 
himself authorized to conclude nothing, but to be at liberty to 
propose anything. . . . With regard to the sentiments of the 
people, he conceived it difficult to know precisely what they are. 
. . . Why should a National Government be unpopular ? . . . 
Will a citizen of Delaware be degraded by becoming a citizen 
of the United States? . . . 

Mr. Pinckney [S. C.]. "The whole thing comes to this. 
. . . Give New Jersey an equal vote, and she will dismiss her 
scruples, and concur in the national system." ^" 

Mr. Wilson [Pa.]. " Can we forget for whom we are form- 
ing a government. Is it for men, or for the imaginary beings 
called States? . . ." 

Dr. Franklin [Pa.]. The diversity of opinions turns on 
two points. If a proportional representation takes place, the 
small States contend that their liberties will be in danger. If 
an equality of votes is to be put in its place, the large States 
say their money will be in danger. . . . 

Mr. Bedford [Del.] contended that there was no middle 
way between a perfect consolidation and a mere confederacy 
of the States. The first is out of the question; and in the lat- 
ter they must continue, if not perfectly, yet equally sovereign. 
. . . The large States dare not dissolve the confederation. 
If they do, the small States will find a foreign ally, of more 
honor and good faith, who will take them by the hand and do 
them justice. . . . 

Mr. Gouverneur Morris [Pa.] regretted the turn of the de- 
bate. The States, he found, had many representatives on the 

9. E. H. Scott, Madison's Journal, 78-80. 

10. Same, 171-174. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 



i/O 



floor. Few, he feared, were to be deemed the Representatives 
of America." ^^ 

Mr. Randolph [Va.]. ... He could not but think that 
we were unprepared to discuss this subject further. It will 
probably be in vain to come to any final decision with a bare 
majority on either side. For these reasons he wished the con- 
vention to adjourn, that the large States might consider the 
steps proper to be taken in the present solemn crisis of the 
business ; and that the small States might also deliberate on the 
means of conciliation. 

Mr. Patterson [N. J.] thought that it was high time for the 
convention to adjourn. . . . No conciliation could be admis- 
sible on the part of the smaller States, on any other ground 
than that of an equality of votes in the second branch [the 
Senate]. If Mr. Randolph would reduce to form his motion 
for an adjournment sine die, he would second it with all his 
heart. 

Mr. Rutledge [S. C] could see no need of an adjournment, 
because he could see no chance of a compromise. The little 
States were fixed. . . . All that the large States, then, had 
to do was to decide whether they would yield or not. 

Mr. Dayton [N. J.]. The smaller States can never give up 
their equality. For himself, he would in no event yield that 
security for their rights. 

Mr. Sherman [Conn.] urged the equality of votes, not so 
much as a security for the small States as for State govern- 
ments, which could not be preserved unices they were repre- 
sented, and had a negative in the general government." ^-' 

Shall Slaves be Counted in Apportioning Representation f 

"Mr. Pinckney [S. C.]. . . . The number of inhabitants 
appeared . . . the only just and practicable rule. He thought 
the blacks ought to stand on an equality with the whites [in 
the apportionment of representatives]. . . . 

Mr. Butler and Gen. Pinckney [S. C] insisted that blacks 
be included in the rule of representation ajually with the whites ; 
and for that purpose moved that the words ' three-fifths ' be 
stricken out [of the committee report]. 



11. E. H. Scott. Madison's Journal, 273, 27ii. 

12. Same, 358-359, 348. 



276 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Mr. Gerry [Mass.] thought that three-fifths of them was, 
to say the least, the full proportion that could be admitted. 

Mr. Gorham [Mass.]. This ratio was fixed by Congress as 
a rule of taxation. Then, it was urged by the delegates rep- 
resenting the States having slaves, that the blacks were still 
more inferior to freemen. At present, when the ratio of rep- 
resentation is to be established, we are assured that they are 
equal to freemen. . . . 

Mr. Williamson [N. C] reminded Mr. Gorham that if the 
Southern States contended for the inferiority of blacks to 
whites when taxation was in view, the Eastern States, on the 
same occasion, contended for their equality. He did not, how- 
ever, either then or now, concur in either extreme, but approved 
of the ratio of three-fifths. 

Mr. Wilson [Pa.] did not see on what principle the admis- 
sion of blacks in the proportion of three-fifths could be ex- 
plained. Are they admitted as citizens, then why are they not 
admitted on an equality with white citizens ? Are they admit- 
ted as property, then why is not other property admitted into 
the computation ? . . . 

Mr. G. Morris [Pa.] was compelled to declare himself re- 
duced to the dilemma of doing injustice to the Southern States, 
or to human nature ; and he must therefore do it to the former. 
For he could never agree to give such encouragement to the 
slave trade as would be given by allowing them a representation 
for their negroes ; and he did not believe that those States would 
ever confederate on terms that would deprive them of that 
trade. 

Mr. Davis [N. C] said it was high time now to speak out. 
He saw that it was meant by some gentlemen to deprive the 
Southern States of any share of representation for their blacks. 
He was sure North Carolina would never confederate on any 
terms that did not rate them at least as three-fifths. If the 
Eastern States meant, therefore to exclude them altogether, the 
business was at an end. 

Mr. Pinckney [S. C] moved to amend ... so as to make 
' blacks equal to whites in the ratio of representation.' This, 
he urged, was nothing more than justice. The blacks are the 
laborers, the peasants of the Southern States. They are as 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 277 

productive of pecuniary resources as those of the Northern 
States It will also be politic with regard to the North- 

ern States", as taxation is to keep pace with representation. 
67m// Congress be given Pozver to Prohibtt the Foreign Slave 

^'teport of Committee of Detail: "No tax or duty shall be 
laid by the [National] Legislature ... on the -^g-tion or 
importation of such persons as the several States shall thmk 
proper to admit; nor shall such migration or importation be 

^''''' Mr'^^L Martin [Md.] proposed to vary [the above re- 
nortl ' . so as to allow a prohibition or tax on the importa- 
IJ^, ,i,,es. . . [He thought] it was -^^^^^^-^^^^^^^^^ 
the principle of the Revolution, and dishonorable to the Amer 
ican'character, to have such a feature in the Constitution. 

Mr. Rutledge [S. C] did not see how the importation of 
slaves could be encouraged by this section. . . . Religion and 
huTani" had nothing to do with this question. Interest alone 
isThe ^.overning principle with nations. The true question at 
presentls. whether the' Southern States shall or shall not be 
parties to the Union. ... 

Mr Ellsworth [Conn.] was for leaving the clause as it 
stands'. Let every State import what it pleases. The -o-h^^^^ 
or wisdom of slavery are considerations belonging to the States 

themselves. ... 

Mr. Pinckney [S. C] . South Carolina can never receive 
the plan if it prohibits the slave trade. ... 

Mr Sherman [Conn.] was for leaving the clause as it 
stands' He observed that the abolition of slavery seemed 

rbe^going'on in the United States, and that the good sense 
of the several States would probably by degrees complete it. . 

Col Mason [Va.]. This infernal traffic originated in the 

avarice of British merchants. . . . The present question con- 

Irn" not the importing States alone, but the whole Umon. 

. They produce the most pernicious effect on manners. 

13. E. H. Scott. Madison's Journal. 301. 321-32S. 332-338. 

14. Same, 455. 



278 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. Tfiey bring the 
judgment of Heaven on a country. . . . 

Mr. Gerry [Mass.] thought we had nothing to do with the 
conduct of the States as to slaves, but ought to be careful not 
to give any sanction to it. 

Mr. Dickinson [Del.] considered it inadmissible, on every 
principle of honor and safety, that the importation of slaves 
should be authorized to the States by the Constitution. 

Mr. Williamson [N. C.]. He thought the Southern States 
could not be members of the Union, if the clause should be 
rejected. . . . 

Mr. King [Mass.] thought the subject should be considered 
in the political light only. If two States will not agree to the 
Constitution, as stated on one side, he could affirm with equal 
belief, on the other, that great and equal opposition would be 
experienced from the other States. 

G. Morris [Pa.] wished the whole subject to be committed 
[to a special committee], including the clauses relating to taxes 
on exports and to a navigation act. These things may form a 
bargain among the Northern and Southern States." ^^ 

[This was done, and the special committee reported that 
migration or importation "shall not be prohibited by the [Na- 
tional] Legislature prior to the year 1800." ^^~\ 

" Gen. Pinckney [S. C] moved to strike out the words, ' the 
year eighteen hundred ' . . . and to insert the words, ' the 
year eighteen hundred and eight.' 

Mr. Gorham [Mass.] seconded the motion. 

Mr. Madison [Va.]. Twenty years will produce all the mis- 
chief that can be apprehended from the liberty to import slaves. 
So long a term will be more dishonorable to the American char- 
acter than to say nothing about it in the Constitution." ^' 

3. THE CONSTITUTION BEFORE THE PEOPLE 

a. Congress Recommends to the States: 

Resolution of Congress (Sept. 28, 1787). " Resolved, unani- 
mously, that the said report [of the Constitutional Convention] 



15. E. H. Scott, Madison's Journal, 577-583. 

16. Same, 599. 

17. Same, 608-609 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 279 

... be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be 
submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each State 
by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the 
convention. . . ." ^^ 

b. Individual Opinions of the New Constitution: 

Jefferson to Wm. Cannichacl (Paris, Dec. 15, 1787). "Our 
new Constitution is powerfully attacked in the newspapers. 
The objections are, that it would be to form the thirteen States 
into one; that proposing to melt all down into one general gov- 
ernment, they have fenced the people by no declaration of 
rights ; they have not renounced the power of keeping a stand- 
ing army; they have not secured the liberty of the press; they 
have reserved the power of abolishing trial by jury in civil 
cases ; . . . they have abandoned rotation in office ; and par- 
ticularly their president may be reelected from four years to 
four years for life, so as to render him a king for life like a 
king of Poland, and have not given him either check or aid of 
a council. . . . You will see that these objections are serious, 
and some of them not without foundation." i-' 

Jefferson to Madison (Paris, Dec. 20, 1787). ... "I like 
very much the general idea of framing a government which 
should go on of itself peacefully, without needing continual 
recurrence to the State legislatures. I like the organization 
. . . into legislative, judiciary, and executive. I like the power 
given to the Legislature to levy taxes [etc.]. ... I do not 
like . . . the omission of a bill of rights providing clearly and 
without the aid of sophisms for freedom of religion, freedom 
of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction 
against monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the 
habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact tri- 
able by the laws of the land and not by the law of nations. . . . 
The second feature I dislike ... is the abandonment in 
every instance of the necessity of rotation in office, and most 
particularly in the case of the President. . . . After all, it is 
my principle that the will of the majority should always pre- 
vail. If they approve the proposed constitution in all its parts. 



18. Elliott, Debates on the Federal Constitution, I, 319. 

19. P. L. Ford, Writings of Jefferson, IV', 470. 



280 AMERICAN HISTORY 

I shall concur in it cheerfully, in hopes that they will amend 
it whenever they shall find it works wrong. I think our gov- 
ernments will remain virtuous for many centuries ; as long 
as they are chiefly agricultural ; and this will be as long as there 
shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get 
piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will 
become corrupt as in Europe." -° 

James IViiithrop (as " x\grippa," in the Massachusetts Ga- 
zctte, Nov., 1787-Jan., 1788). "We find . . . that after the 
experience of nearly two centuries our separate governments 
are in full vigor. They discover . . . every symptom of 
strength, and none of decay. The new system is, therefore, 
for such purposes, useless and burdensome. ... It is the opin- 
ion of the ablest writers . . . that no extensive empire can 
be governed upon republican principles, and that such a gov- 
ernment will degenerate to a despotism, unless it be made up 
of a confederacy of smaller states, each having the full powers 
of internal regulation. This is precisely the principle which 
has hitherto preserved our freedom. ... It is impossible for 
one code of laws to suit Georgia and Massachusetts. They 
must legislate for themselves. . . . This new system is ... a 
consolidation of all the States into one large mass. . . . The 
attempt made by Great Britain to introduce such a system struck 
us with horror. . . . Let us, then, cherish the old confederation 
like the apple of our eye. Let us confirm it by such limited pow- 
ers of Congress, . . . that our union shall outlast time itself. 
. . . Let us, then, with the spirit of freemen, reject the offered 
system, and treat as it deserves the proposition of men who 
have departed from their commission ; and let us deliver to the 
rising generation the liberty purchased with our blood." -^ 

Patrick Henry (in Virginia Convention, June, 1788). "That 
this is a consolidated government is demonstrably clear; and 
the danger of such a government is, to my mind, very striking. 
I have the highest veneration for those gentlemen [of the Con- 
stitutional Convention] ; but, sir, give me leave to demand, 
What right had they to say, ' We, the People '? . . . Who 



20. P. L. Ford, Writings of Jefferson, IV, 474-476. 

21. E. H. Scott, The Federalist and Other Papers, 515-516, 543-545. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 281 

authorizes them to speak the language of We, the People, in- 
stead of We, the States? States are the characteristics and soul 
of confederation. If the States be not agents of this compact, it 
must be one great, consolidated, national government, of the 
people of all the States. . . . Congress, by the power of taxa- 
tion, by that of raising an army, and by their control over the 
militia, has the sword in one hand and the purse in the other. 
Shall we be safe without either? . . . Let him candidly tell 
me, where and when did freedom exist when the sword and 
purse were given up from the people?"-^ 

Alexander Hamilton and James Madison (as " Publius," in 
The Federalist). " I propose in a series of papers to discuss 
the following interesting particulars : The utility of the UNION 
to your political prosperity ; the insufficiency of the present Con- 
federation to preserve that Union; the necessity of a govern- 
ment, at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the 
attainment of this object; the conformity of the proposed Con- 
stitution to the true principles of republican government; its 
analogy to your own State constitution ; and . . . the addi- 
tional security which its adoption will afford to the preservation 
of that species of Government, to liberty, and to property. . . .^^ 

If the plan of the convention ... be found to depart from 
the republican character, its advocates must abandon it as no 
longer defensible. . . . We may define a republic to be . . . 
a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly 
from the great body of the people ; and is administered by per- 
sons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, 
or during good behavior. It is essential to such a government, 
that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from 
an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it. . . .^* 

The proposed Constitution ... is in strictness neither a 
national nor a federal constitution, but a composition of both. 

The second point to be examined is, whether the convention 
were authorized to frame and propose this mixed constitution. 



22. Elliott, Debates on the Federal Constitution, III,. 22, 169. 

23. By Hamilton. E. H. Scott, The Federalist, 14. 

24. 25. By Madison. E. H. Scott, The Federalist, 209-210, 215, 222. 



282 AMERICAN HISTORY 

. . . The . . . charge against the convention of exceeding 
their powers, except in one instance Httle urged by the ob- 
jectors, has no foundation to support it; ... if they . . . 
exceeded their powers, they were not only warranted, but re- 
quired, as the confidential servants of their country, by the 
circumstances in which they were placed, to exercise the liberty 
which they assumed ; and . . . finally, if they . . . violated 
both their powers and their obligations, in proposing a constitu- 
tion, this ought, nevertheless, to be embraced, if it be calculated 
to accomplish the views and happiness of the people of Amer- 
ica. . . ."26 

George Washington to Bushrod Washington (Nov. 10, 17<S7). 
" The warmest friends and best supporters the Constitution has, 
do not contend that it is free from imperfections ; but they have 
found these unavoidable, and are sensible . . . the remedy 
must come hereafter. . . . The power under the Constitution 
will always be in the people. It is entrusted for certain defined 
purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives 
of their own choosing; and whenever it is exercised contrary to 
their interest, or not agreeably to their wishes, their servants 
can and undoubtedly will be recalled. . . ." -^ 

Washington to John Lathrop (June 22, 1788). "I am 
happy to find that the proposed general government meets with 
your approbation, as indeed it does with that of the most dis- 
interested and discerning men. ... In truth, it appears to me, 
that, should the proposed government be generally and harmo- 
niously adopted, it would be a new phenomenon in the political 
and moral world, and an astonishing victory gained by enlight- 
ened reason over brutal force." -^ 
c. Ratification by State Conventions: 

Dclazvare (Dec. 7, 1787). We, the deputies of the people 
of Delaware State, in convention met, having taken into serious 
consideration the Federal Constitution, proposed and agreed 
upon by the deputies of the United States, in a general conven- 
tion, held at the city of Philadelphia, . . . have approved. 



26. By Madison. E. H. Scott, The Federalist, 209-210. 21; 

27. .Tared Sparks, Writings of Washington, IX, 278-279. 

28. Same, XX. 388-389. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 283 

assented to, ratified, and confirmed, and . . . do, for and in 
liehalf of ourselves and our constituents, fully, freely, and en- 
tirely approve of, assent to, ratify, and confirm the said Consti- 
tution." Pennsylvania (Dec. 12, 1787), Neiv Jersey (Dec. 18, 
1787), Georgia (Jan. 2, 1788), Connecticut (Jan. 9. 1788), 
Maryland (April 28, 1788), and North Carolina (Nov. 21, 
1789), used similar or equivalent form and words in ratifying. 

Massachusetts (Feb. 7, 1788). "The convention [of Mas- 
sachusetts] having impartially discussed and fully considered 
the Constitution, ... do assent to and ratify the said Con- 
stitution. . . . And as it is the opinion of this convention 
that certain amendments and alterations in the said Constitu- 
tion would remove the fears and quiet the apprehensions of 
many of the good people of this commonwealth, and more ef- 
fectually guard against an undue administration of the Federal 
Government, — the convention do therefore recommend that the 
following [nine] alterations and provisions be introduced into 
the said Constitution [enumerating practically the points after- 
wards covered by the first ten amendments to the Constitu- 
tion]." Sou{h Carolina (May 23, 1788), Nezv Hampshire (June 
21. 1788), Nezv York (July 26, 1788), and Rhode Island (May 
29, 1790), made similar suggestions for amendments. 

Virginia (June 26, 1788). "We . . . do, in the name and 
in behalf of the people of Virginia, declare and make known, 
that the powers granted under the Constitution, being derived 
from the people of the United States, may be resumed by them, 
whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or op- 
pression. . . . With these impressions, . . . we . . . assent 
to and ratify the Constitution recommended. . . ." Rhode 
Island (May 29, 1790) also asserted that "the powers of gov- 
ernment may be reassumed by the people whensoever it shall 
become necessary to their happiness." ■'•' 



29. Elliott, Debates on the Federal Constitution. I, 319 337. 



284 AMERICAN HISTORY 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What was the chief purpose for which Virginia 
called the Annapolis convention? (2) What other purpose 
suggested in the New Jersey instructions? (3) What was the 
result of the Annapolis convention? (4) Did Congress in its 
call for a convention have in mind the making of a new con- 
stitution ? Proof ? (5) What was the chief purpose of the 
convention as shown by state instructions to delegates? (6) 
What hostile ideas represented in the Randolph and Patterson 
plans? (7) What is the significance of Randolph's alteration 
of his original plan? (8) What were the chief arguments for 
election of congressmen by State legislatures instead of by the 
people? (9) What reasons assigned for distrust of the people? 
(10) What class or kind of States demanded equal representa- 
tion? (11) What reasons did they give for their demand? 
(12) How were their arguments answered? (13) On what 
grounds was representation of ^slaves demanded? (14) On 
what resisted? (15) What arguments made against continu- 
ance of slave trade? (16) What arguments for? (17) Atti- 
tude of the sections on this question? (18) What were the 
chief objections against the ratification? (19) What the impor- 
tant differences in the ratifications of Delaware, Massachusetts, 
and Rhode Island? 

II. (1) Compare the two plans, showing the significance 
of their differences. (2) Write a narrative from the extracts 
on "the making of the Constitution." (3) Write a paper on 
sectionalism in the convention. 

III. (1) What men were the most important in the founda- 
tion and adoption of the Constitution? (2) How were the ques- 
tions in dispute finally compromised? (3) How did the Consti- 
tution remedy the defects of the Articles of Confederation? (4) 
What predictions have been fulfilled? What ones falsified? 

Text-Book References — Hart, 206-219; Channing, 232-252; 
McLaughlin, 229-232; McMaster, 165-170; Montgomery, 233- 
239; Adams and Trent, 181-188; MacDonald's Johnston, 176- 
183; Thomas, 170-180. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 285 

SECTION II 
HAMILTONIAN FEDERALISM— 1789-1801 

What soon became known as the Federahst party, under 
the leadership of Hamilton, obtained ahiiost immediate con- 
trol of the new government established under the constitu- 
tion. Party divisions were at once foretold by the contro- 
versies that took place over the use of English forms and 
ceremonies in the inauguration of the government, and over 
the attempts of those in power to give aristocratic titles to 
the new officials. However, the real struggle came over the 
Hamiltonian measures of funding, assumption, and the bank. 
Those opposed to these centralizing tendencies began to 
organize in 1791, under the leadership of Jefferson and 
Madison, and soon became known as Republicans, advocat- 
ing a strict interpretation of the Constitution and empha- 
sizing the importance of local or state government. 

After 1793 party contests shifted in the main from these 
home or domestic policies to those of foreign relations. The 
American people divided over the French Revolution. 
Federalist sympathy was with the English ; Republican sym- 
pathy was with the French. Thus treaties made or at- 
tempted with cither of these powers were attacked by the 
party hostile to that power, and when in 1798 it became 
known in the United States that the French ministry had 
demanded a bribe before entering upon the negotiation of a 
treaty, the Federalists made use of the aroused American 
indignation to secure the enactment of laws placing re- 
straints upt)n aliens, naturalization, and freedom of speech 
and press. These measures led to the Virginia and Ken- 
tucky Resolutions, and in time produced a reaction in fa- 
vor of the Republicans. 

Moved by fear of Republican victory, Hamilton (in his 



286 AMERICAN HISTORY 

letter to Dayton) proposed measures whose accomplishment 
would have destroyed the States, and changed the "federal" 
into a "consolidated" government. In 1800 the Federal 
party weakened by factionalism and its own legislative ex- 
cesses met defeat, and the country committed itself to the 
Republican party under the leadership of Jefferson. Fed- 
eralism had proved its constructive power in developing 
the machinery of government, but the ideals to which it 
applied this machinery were on the whole aristocratic and 
traditional — ideals in harmony with the vanishing past 
rather than with the growing democratic spirit of America. 

1. DEVELOPMENT OF FEDERALIST DOMESTIC POLICY, 

1789-1793 

a. Organization of Government under the Constitution: 

Opening of Congress (Mar. 4- Apr. 6, 1789). "This being 
the day for the meeting of the new Congress, [a few] members 
of the Senate appeared. . . . The members present not being 
a quorum, they adjourned from day to day. . . . Monday, April 
6, R. H. Lee [Va.] . . . took his seat and formed a quorum." ^ 

Inauguration of the President (April 30, 1789). "Mr. Lee 
... of the committee . . . for conducting the formal recep- 
tion ... of the President, . . . having informed the Senate 
that the same was adjusted, the House of Representatives were 
notified that the Senate was ready to receive them . . . while 
[the President was] taking the oath required by the Constitution. 
Whereupon, the House of Representatives, preceded by their 
speaker, came into the Senate chamber, . . . and the oath 
was administered [to the President ; who] having returned to 
his seat, after a short pause arose, and addressed the Senate 
and House of Representatives. . . . Upon motion ... a committee 
of three [was] appointed to prepare an answer to the Presi- 
dent's speech, . . . and May 1, reported as follows: Sir; We 
the Senate of the United States, return you our sincere thanks 



1. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, I, 9-10. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 287 

for your excellent speech . . . , congratulate you on the com- 
plete organization of the Federal Government; and felicitate 
ourselves . . . over your elevation to the office of President. . . ."- 

Senator Win. Maclay: The controversy over Forms and 
Titles (Apr. 30-May 14, 1789). "This is a great, important 
day. Goddess of Etiquette, assist me while I describe it. . . . 
[The Vice-President said] The President will, I suppose, ad- 
dress the Congress. How shall I behave? How shall we re- 
ceive it? Shall it be standing or sitting? . . . Mr. Lee began 
with the House of Commons, . . . then the House of Lords, 
then the King, and then back again. The result of his infor- 
mation was, that the Lords sat and the Commons stood on the 
delivery of the King's speech. . . . Mr. Carrol . . . thought 
it no consequence how it was in Great Britain, they were no 
rule to us. . . . 

The President advanced between the Senate and Represen- 
tatives, bowing to each. He was placed in the chair by the 
Vice-President; .the Senate with their president on the right, 
the Speaker and the Representatives on the left. The Vice- 
President rose and addressed a short sentence to him. . . . 
He [the President] rose, and all arose also, and [he] addressed 
them. . . . This great man was agitated and embarrassed more 
than ever he was by the leveled cannon or pointed musket. He 
trembled. ... I sincerely . . . wished all set ceremony in 
the hands of the dancing-masters, ... for I felt hurt that he 
[Washington] was not first in everything. He was dressed in 
deep brown, with metal buttons, with an eagle on them, white 
stockings, a bag, and sword. . . . The Senate returned to their 
chamber after service . . . and took up the [President's] ad- 
dress. Our Vice-President called it his most gracious speech. 
I can not approve of this. [May 1, I said] Mr. President, we 
have lately had a hard struggle against kingly authority. . . . 
The words [there] prefixed to the President's speech are the 
same that are usually placed before the speech of his Britannic 
Majesty. ... I consider them as improper. Mr. Adams rose 
in his chair and expressed the greatest surprise that anything 
should be objected to . . . taken from the practice of that 



2. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, I, 13. 



288 AMERICAN HISTORV 

Government under which we had hved so long and happily 
formerly ; that he was for a dignified and respectable govern- 
ment, ... he was one of the first in the late [Revolutionary] 
contest, and if he could Jioz'c thought of this, he never would 
hove drawn his szvord. 

Painful as it was, I had- to contend with the chair [stating] 
that the enemies of the Constitution had objected to . . . the 
facility there would be of transition from it to kingly govern- 
ment and all the trappings and splendor of royalty. . . . 

[The Senate on a previous day having discussed the title 
by which the President should be addressed] May 8, I collected 
myself for a last effort. I read the clause in the Constitution 
against titles of nobility. . . . The report [of the committee 
on titles] was . . . rejected. ' Excellency ' was moved for as 
a title by Mr. Izard [S. C], . . . [but was later] withdrawn. 
. . . and 'highness' . . . proposed by Mr. Lee [Va.]. Now 
long harangues were made in favor of this title. . . . 

May 9th. ... At length the committee . . . reported 
a title — His Highness the President of the United States of 
America, and Protector of the Rights of the Same, . . . but 
[May 14] ... in conformity to the practice of the other 
House, for the present, they [the Senate] resolved to address 
the President without title." ^ 

Creation of the Cabinet (May 19, 1789). "Mr. Boudinot 
[N. J.]. I shall move the committee . . . that an oflficer be 
established for the management of the finances of the United 
States . . . , to he denominated the Secretary of Finance. . . . 

Mr. Benson [N. Y.] wished the committee to consider . . . 
how many departments there should be established. He . . . 
would move that there be established in aid of the chief execu- 
tive, three executive departments, . . . the Department of 
Foreign Affairs, Treasury, and War. . . . 

Mr. Vining [Del.] thought the gentleman should have added 
another department, viz : the Home Department. . . . 

Mr. Madison [Va.] moved that . . . an officer [be provided 
for] to be called the Secretary to the Department of Foreign 
Affairs, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with 



3. E. S. Maclay. Journal of Wm. Maclay, 1-26, 33. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 289 

the advice and consent of the Senate; and to he removed l>y the 
President. 

Mr. Smith [S. C] said he had doubts whether the officer 
could be removed by the President. He apprehended he could 
only be removed by an impeachment before the Senate. . . . 

Mr. Madison [Va.] did not concur. ... I think it abso- 
lutely necessary that the President should have the power of re- 
moving from office. . . . On the constitutionality of the decla- 
ration I have no manner of doubt. 

Mr. Bland [\'a.]. He thought it consistent with the nature 
of things, that tlie power which appointed should remove. . . ." * 

b. Establishment of Hamiltonian Financial Policy: 

Hamilton's Reports on Public Credit (1790). F"irst report, 
Jan. 9, 1790. "... A general belief . . . prevails, that the 
credit of the United States will quickly be established on the 
firm foundation of an effectual provision of the existing debt. 
... To justify and preserve [the] confidence [of the friends 
of good government], to promote the increasing respectability 
of the American name; to answer the calls of justice; to restore 
landed property to its due value ; to furnish new resources . . . ; 
to cement more closely the union of the states ; to add to their 
security against foreign attack ; to establish public order . . . ; 
these are the great . . . ends to be secured by a proper . . . 
provision . . . for the support of the public credit. . . . 
The interesting problem now occurs: Is it in the power of the 
United States ... to make a provision equal to the funding 
of the whole debt . . . ? The secretary now proceeds . . . 
to oft'er . . . his ideas of the steps which ought ... to be 
taken towards the assumption of the state debts. 

Second Report. Dec. 13, 1790. "... the Secretary respect- 
fully reports: That the object which appears to be most imme- 
diately essential to the further support of the pul)lic credit 
. . . is the establishment of proper . . . funds for paying 
the interest . . . on the debts . . . [by] a further duty on 
foreign distilled si)irits, and a duty on spirits distilled within 
the United States . . . | as] the duties on the great mass of 



4. T. H. Bfiiton, .\biiiigmciU of Debates of Congress, I, 85-87 



290 AMERICAN HISTORY 

imported articles have reached a point which it would not be 
expedient to exceed. . . . To these more direct expedients for 
the support of public credit, the institution of a national bank 
presents itself as a necessary auxiliary." -^ 

House Debate on Funding and Assumption (Feb. 8-9, 1790). 
" Mr. Smith [S. C] . . . was induced to suggest ... to the 
following effect: Resolved, That Congress ought not to adjourn 
till they have adopted such measures as will make an adequate 
provision for the public debt. Resolved, That ... no dis- 
crimination shall be made between the original holders of the 
evidences [of debt] and the assignees thereof. Resolved, That 
such of the debts of the individual States as have been in- 
curred by them during the late war, ought to be assumed by 
the General Government. 

Mr. Jackson [Ga.]. It is doubtful with me whether a per- 
manent funded debt is beneficial or not to any country : . . . 
I contend that a funding system in this country will be highly 
dangerous to the welfare of the Republic ; it may, for a moment, 
raise our credit . . . ; but it must hereafter settle upon our 
posterity a burthen which they can neither bear nor relieve 
themselves from. . . . Let us take warning by the errors of 
Europe, and guard against the introduction of a system followed 
by calamities so universal." "^ 

House Debate on the Bank (Feb. 1, 1791). "Mr. Jackson 
[Ga.]. . . . He was opposed to the principle of the bill alto- 
gether. . . . This plan of a National Bank ... is calculated 
to benefit a small part of the United States, the mercantile in- 
terest only ; the farmers . . . will derive no advantage from 
it; as the bank bills will not circulate to the extremities of the 
Union. He said he had never seen a bank bill in the State of 
Georgia. . . . He urged the unconstitutionality of the plan ; 
called it a monopoly. . . . 

Mr. Lawrence [N. Y.] . . . noticed the constitutional ob- 
jections of Mr. Jackson, and said, the Government of the United 
States is vested by the constitution with a power of borrow- 
ing money ; and in pursuance of this idea, they have a right to 



5. Wm. MacDonald, Select Documents, 46-66. 

6. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, I, 190-192. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 291 

create a capital, by which they may, with greater facility, carry 
the power of borrowing on any emergency into effect. . . . He 
had no doubt its operation would benefit, not only the center, 
but the extremeties also of the Union. The commercial, me- 
chanical, and agricultural interests of the United States are so 
combined, that one can not be benefited without benefiting the 
other. 

Mr. Madison [Va.]. ... It appeared on the whole . . . 
that the power exercised by the bill was condemned by the 
silence of the constitution ; . . . by the rule of interpretation 
arising out of the constitution ; . . . by its tendency to destroy 
the main characteristics of the constitution ; ... by the ex- 
position of the friends of the constitution, whilst depending 
before the public ; ... by the explanatory amendments pro- 
posed by Congress themselves to the constitution, and he hoped 
it would receive its final condemnation by the vote of this 
House." ' 

Cabinet Opinions on Constijutionality of a National Bank 
(1791). Opinion of Jefferson, Feb. 15, 1791. "I consider the 
foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground : That all 
powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, 
. . . are reserved to the States or the people. 

The incorporation of a bank, and the powers assumed by this 
bill, have not, in my opinion, been delegated. . . . 

I. They are not among the powers specially enumerated ; 
for these are: 1st. A power to lay taxes for the purpose of pay- 
ing the debts of the United States ; but no debt is paid by this 
bill, nor any tax laid. . . . 2d. To borrow money. But this bill 
neither borrows money, nor insures the borrowing of it. . . . 
3d. To regulate commerce. . . . To erect a bank, and to regu- 
late commerce are two very different acts. . . . 

II. Nor are they within either of the general phrases, which 
are the two following: (1) To lay taxes to provide for the 
general welfare . . . ; that is to say, to lay taxes for the purpose 
of providing for the general welfare. (2) ... To make all 
laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the enu- 
merated powers. But they can all be carried into execution 



7. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debases of Congress, I, 278. 



292 AMERICAN HISTORY 

without a bank. It has been urged that a bank will give great 
. . . convenience in the collection of taxes. Suppose this 
were true ; yet the Constitution allows only the means which 
are ' necessary,' not those which are merely ' convenient ' for 
effecting the enumerated powers. . . . Perhaps, indeed, bank 
bill's may be a more convenient vehicle than treasury orders. 
But a little diffcrnce in the degree of convenience, can not con- 
stitute the necessity which the Constitution makes the ground 
for assuming any non-enumerated power." ^ 

Opinion of Hamilton, Feb. 23, 1791. " Now it appears to 
the Secretary of the Treasury that this general principle is in- 
herent in the very definition of government, and essential to 
every step of the progress to be made by that of the United 
States, namely, that every power vested in a government is in 
its nature .sovereign, and includes, by force of the term, a right 
to employ all the means requisite, .and fairly applicable, to the 
attainment of the ends of such power. ... It is not denied 
that there are implied as well as express powers, and that the 
former are as effectually delegated as the latter. . . . Then 
as the power of erecting a corporation may as well be implied 
as any other thing, it may as well be employed as an instrninenl 
or means of carrying into execution any of the specified powers, 
as any other instrument or means whatever. . . . 

. . . Necessary often means no more than needful, requisite ; 
incidental, useful or conducive to. . . . And it is the true one 
in which it is to be understood as used in the constitution. The 
whole turn of the clause containing it indicates that it was the 
intent of the convention, by that clause, to give a liberal lati- 
tude to the exercise of the specified powers. . . . To under- 
stand the word as the Secretary of State does would be to de- 
part from its obvious and popular sense, and to give it a re- 
strictive operation, an idea never before entertained. It would 
be to give it the same force as if the word absolutely or indis- 
pensably had been prefixed to it. . . . 

It leaves, therefore, a criterion of what is constitutional and 
of what is not. This criterion is the end to which the measure 
relates as a means. If the end be clearly comprehended within 



5. P. L. Ford, Writings of Jefferson, \', JS6-289. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 293 

any of the specified powers, and if the measure have an obvious 
relation to that end and is not forbidden by any particular pro- 
vision of the constitution, it' may safely be deemed to come 
within the compass of the national authority." " 

Hamilton to Carrington (May 26, 1792). ". . . Last ses- 
sion I became convinced that . . . Mr. Madison, co-operating 
with Mr. Jefferson, is at the head of a faction . . . hostile to 
me . . . and actuated by views . . . subversive of the prin- 
ciples of good government and dangerous to the union, peace, 
and happiness of the country. . . . Mr. Jefferson is an avowed 
enemy of a funded debt. . . . | WJhatever were the original merits 
of the funding system, . . . | what] would become of the gov- 
ernment should it be reversed? What of the national reputa- 
tion? ... In almost all the questions, . . . which have arisen 
since the first session of Congress, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Mad- 
ison have been among those who are disposed to narrow the 
federal authority. The question of a national bank is one ex- 
ample. . . . 

I am told that serious apprehensions are disseminated in 
yc'ur State as to the existence of a monarchical parly meditating 
the destruction of State and republican government. ... I 
assure you . . . that there is not ... a shadow of founda- 
tion for it. . . . As to my own political creed, . . . I am . . . 
affectionately attached to the republican theory. ... As to the 
State governments, the bias of my judgmciU is that if they can 
be circumscribed within bounds, consistent with the preserva- 
tion of the national government, they wdll prove useful and 
salutary. If the States were all of the size of Connecticut, ^Nlary- 
land, or New Jersey. I should decidedly regard the local gov- 
ernments as both safe and useful. As the thing now is, how- 
ever, I acknowledge the most serious apprehensions, that the 
government of the United States will not be able to maintain 
itself against their influence. ... I said I was affectionately 
attached to the republican theory. This is the real language of 
my heart . . . ; and I add that I have strong hopes of the suc- 
cess of that theory ; but, in candor, I ought also to add that I 



9. H. C. Lodge, Works of Hamilton, III, 44t>. 458. 



294 AMERICAN HISTORY 

am far from being without doubts. I consider its success as yet 
a problem." '^^ 

2. DOMINANCE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS— 1793-1798 

a. Neutrality: 

President Washington: A Proclamation of Neutrality (Apr. 
22, 1793). " Whereas, it appears that a state of war exists be- 
tween Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain ... of the one 
part, and France on the other; and the duty and interests of the 
United States require, that they should with sincerity and good 
faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward 
the belligerent Powers: 

I [the President] have therefore thought fit by these presents 
to declare the disposition of the United States to observe the 
conduct aforesaid towards those Powers respectively ; and to 
exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to 
avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever, which may in any 
manner tend to contravene such disposition. [Penalties.]" ^^ 

T. Dzvight [Mass.'] to O. Wolcott IConn.'] (1793). "... A 
war with Great Britain, we, at least, in New England, will not 
enter into. Sooner would ninety-nine out of a hundred of our 
inhabitants separate from the Union than plunge themselves 
into such an abyss of misery. . . ." ^^ 

Jefferson to Madison (June 23, 1793). "The [President's] 
proclamation as first proposed was to have been a declaration of 
neutrality. It was opposed on these grounds: (1) That a decla- 
ration of neutrality was a declaration there should be no war, 
to which the executive was not competent. (2) That it would 
be better to hold back the declaration of neutrality, as a thing 
worth something to the powers at war, that they would bid for 
it, and we might reasonably ask a price, the broadest privileges 
of neutral nations. . . ." ^^ 

Jefferson to Madison (Aug. 25, 1793). "You will perceive 
. . . that Genet has thrown down the gauntlet to the President, 



10. H. C. Lodge, Works of Hamilton, IX, 513-35. 

11. Wm. Macdonald, Select Documents, 113-114. 

12. Geo. Gibbs, Administrations Washington and Adams, I, 107. 

13. A. A. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, IX, 138-139. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 295 

... and is himself forcing that appeal to the people, and risk- 
ing that disgust which I had so much wished should have been 
avoided. The indications . . . show that the mass of the 
Republican interest has no hesitation to disapprove of this in- 
termeddling by a foreigner, and the more readily as his object 
was evidently ... to force us into the war." ^* 

b. Jay's Treaty: 

Contest over House Anszver to President's Address (Dec. 
15, 1795). "The House . . . resolved itself into a Committee 
of the Whole ... on the draft of an answer to the President's 
speech. The following sentence being under consideration: 

Contemplating that probably unequalled spectacle of na- 
tional happiness, which our country exhibits, to the interestmg 
summary which you, sir, have been pleased to make, in justice 
to our own feelings, permit us to add the benefits which are 
derived from your presiding in our councils resulting as well 
from the undiminished confidence of your fellow-citizens, as 
from your zealous and successful labors in their service. 

Mr. Parker [Republican, Va.] moved to strike out the words 
' probably unequalled ' and from the word councils to the end. 
... He could not . . . subscribe to the expressions ; ... his 
confidence in the President was diminished. 

Mr. Harper [FederaUst, S. C] said he had no difficulty in 
declaring that his own confidence in the President was undi- 
minished. . . . 

Mr. Sedgwick [Federalist, Mass.]. ... He believed . . . 
that the efforts made to destroy the character of this first of 
men, instead of producing the mischief intended, would effect 
the contrary; and he also expressed his belief that the tide of 
his popularity at the present moment flowed with unusual 
strength. ... The fame of the Chief Magistrate's character 
has filled the whole world. ... If, at this time of day, they 
indirectly declare their want of confidence in that man, they 
will justify the malignant predictions which have been uttered 
against our system of government." " 



14. A. A. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, IX, 211. 

15. T. H. Benton. Abridgment of Debates of Congress. I. 606-607. 



296 AMERICAN HISTORY 

House Call for Jay Treaty Papers (Mar. 7, 1796). "Mr. 
Livingston [N. Y., introduced] . . . the following resolu- 
tion . . . : 

Resolved, That the President of the United States be re- 
quested to lay before this House a copy of the instructions to 
the Minister of the United States [Jay] who negotiated the 
Treaty with the King of Great Britain, . . . together with the 
correspondence and other documents relative to the said 
Treaty." i** 

Jefferson to Monroe (Mar. 21. 1796). "The British treaty 
has been formally, at length, laid before Congress. All America 
is a-tiptoe to see what the House of Representatives will decide 
on it. We conceive the constitutional doctrine to be, that though 
the President and Senate have the general power of making 
treaties, yet whenever they include in a treaty matters confided 
by the constitution to the three branches of the Legislature, an 
act of legislation will be required to confirm those articles, and 
that the House of Representatives, as one branch of the Legis- 
lature, are perfectly free to pass the act or to refuse it. . . ." ^' 

Hamilton to Washington (March 7, 1796). "A right in the 
House of Representatives to demand and have, as a matter of 
course, and without specification of any object, all communica- 
tions respecting negotiations with a foreign power, can not be 
admitted. ... A discretion in the executive department how 
far and when to comply in such cases is essential to the due 
conduct of foreign negotiations, and ... to preserve the limits 
between the legislative and executive departments." ^'^ 

House Debate on Call for Papers (March 7, 1796). "Mr. 
Smith [S. C.]. The President and the Senate have, by the Con- 
stitution, the power of making treaties, and the House have no 
agency in them, except to make laws necessary to carry them 
into operation ; he considered the House as bound, in common 
with their fellow-citizens, to do everything in their power to 
carry them into execution. He recognized but one exception 
to this rule, and that was, when the instrument was clearly un- 
constitutional. 



16. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, I, 640. 

17. A. A. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, IX, 329. 

18. H. C. Lodge, Hamilton's Works, X, 146. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 297 

Mr. Gallatin [Pa.] conceived that, whether the House had a 
discretionary power with respect to treaties, or whether they 
were absolutely bound by those instruments, and were obliged 
to pass laws to carry them fully into effect, still there was no 
impropriety in calling for the papers. . . . He would state his 
opinion, that the House had a right to ask for the papers pro- 
posed to be called for, because their co-operation and sanction 
was necessary to carry the Treaty into full effect, to render it a 
binding instrument, and to make it, properly speaking, a law of 
the land ; because they had a full discretion either to give or to 
refuse that co-operation; . . . [\^ote reached] March 24; yeas, 
62, nays, 37. , . ." ^"■* 

President's Reply to Call fot Papers (March 30, 1796). The 
following message was received from the President in answer 
to the resolution of the House : " . . . As, therefore, it is per- 
fectly clear to my understanding, that the assent of the House 
. . , is not necessary to the validity of a treaty; . . . and as 
it is essential to the due administration of the Government, that 
the boundaries fixed by the constitution between the different 
departments should be preserved — a just regard to the consti- 
tution and to the duty of my office, under all the circumstances 
of the case, forbid a compliance with your request. 

G. Washington." ^^ 

House Debate on Appropriation to carry Jay's Treaty into 
Effect (April 15 and 28, 1796). "Mr. Swanwick [Republican, 
Pa.]. ... I must confess . . . that the first point of view in 
which this treaty struck me with surprise was, the attitude Great 
Britain assumes in it. . . . In Evirope, we are told we may 
enter her ports. In the West Indies, we were to sail in canoes 
of seventy tons' burden. In the East Indies we are not to set- 
tle or reside without leave of the local government. In the 
seaports of Canada and Nova Scotia we are not to be admitted 
at all ; while all our rivers and countries are opened without the 
least reserve. . . . After having thus reviewed the first ten or per- 
manent articles, I think it must appear obvious . . . that we have 



19. T. H. Rcnton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, I, 640-644. 

20. T. H. Benton, .Xbridpment of Debates of Congress, I, 692-693. 



298 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ceded the right to navigate the Mississippi [to England] on terms 
different to those on which we receive it from Spain; that we 
have consented to receive Western posts on terms that afford 
too much danger of disturbances . . . ; that we have provided, 
certainly, for an indefinite amount of British debts ; whilst our 
claim for spoliations is left to be decided by commissioners at 
London, . . . under very extensive latitude of judging accord- 
ing to what may appear to them to be the law of nations, in a 
country where that law has been twisted so as always to serve 
as a pretext for spoliations against us. . . . On a review, then, 
of the commercial [temporary] articles, they may be summed 
up as follows : West India trade left blank by a suspension of 
the 12th article. East India trade subjected to a condition of 
residence. ... In time of war our ships deprived of the neu- 
tral rights of carrying allowed them by Treaty with France and 
Spain, and exposed to be captured and detained on suspicion, 
as now daily happens. . . . Considering, then, this Treaty 
... on its own merits, I . . . vote ... to suspend appro- 
priations, especially at a moment when our seamen continue to 
be impressed and our ships to be taken. 

Mr. Ames [Federalist, Mass.] rose. . . . The consequences 
of refusing to make provision for the Treaty are not all to be 
foreseen. By rejecting, vast interests are committed to the sport of 
the winds, chance becomes the arbiter of events, and it is for- 
bidden to human foresight to count their number, or measure 
their extent. ... I see no exception to the respect that is 
paid among nations to the law of good faith. . . . The refusal 
of the ports (inevitable, if we reject the Treaty) is a measure 
too decisive in its nature to be neutral in its consequences. 
From great causes we are to look for great effects. A plain 
and obvious one will be the price of western lands will fall. 
. . . The frontiers were scourged with war till the negotiation 
with Britain was far advanced. ... By rejecting the posts, 
we light the savage fires — we bind the victims. This day we 
undertake to render account to the widows and orphans whom 
our decision will make; to the wretches who will be roasted at 
the stake; to our country; and I do not deem it too serious to 
say, to conscience and to God — we are answerable. ... Is it 
possible for a real American to look at the prosperity of this 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 299 

country without some desire for its continuance, without some 
respect for the measures which, many will say, produced, and 
all will confess, have preserved it? . . . Let us not hesitate, 
then, to agree to the appropriation to carry it into faithful exe- 
cution. Thus we shall save the faith of our nation, secure its 
peace, and diffuse the spirit of confidence and enterprise that 
will augment its prosperity. The vast crop of our neutrality is 
all seed wheat, and is sown again to swell . . . the future 
harvest of prosperity. . . . Resolutions carried; 51 ayes, 48 
nays." -^ 

c. The X. Y. Z. Affair: 

Hamilton to R. King (Dec. 16, 1796). "Public opinion, 
taking the country at large, has continued ... to travel in a 
right direction. . . . You need not be told that every exertion 
not degrading to us will be made to preserve peace with France. 
Many of the opposite party . . . will not wish to go to the 
length of war. And we shall endeavor to avoid it in pursuance 
of preserving peace with all the world. Yet you may depend 
that we shall not submit to be dictated to or to be forced into 
a departure from our plan of neutrality, unless to repel an at- 
tack upon us. . . . We are laboring hard to establish in this 
country principles more and more national and free from all 
foreign ingredients, so that we may be neither ' Greeks nor 
Trojans,' but truly Americans." — 

Hamilton to T. Pickering (March 22, 1797). "It is now 
ascertained that Mr. Pinckney has been refused [by France], 
and with circumstances of indignity. What is to be done? . . . 
I offer . . . 

First. I would appoint a day of humiliation and prayer. . . . 
This appears to me proper ... to strengthen religious ideas 
in a contest [in] which . . . our people may consider them- 
selves as the defenders of their country against atheism, con- 
quest, and anarchy. 

Second. I would call Congress together. . , . 

Third. When assembled, I would appoint a commission ex- 



21. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, I, 707-709, 743-748. 
75.-?. 

22. H. C. Lodge, Hamilton's Works, X, 215-217. 



300 AMERICAN HISTORY 

traordinary, to consist of Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison, to- 
gether with Mr. Cabot and Mr. Pinckney. To be useful it is 
important that a man agreeable to the French should go. But 
neither Madison nor Jefferson should go alone. The three will 
give security. . . . The commission should be instructed to 
explain ; to ask a rescinding of the [trade] order under which 
we suffer and reparation for the past — to remodify our treaties. 

Fourth. The Congress should be urged to take defensive 
measures, these to be an embargo. ... ( 1 ) Additional revenue. 
. . . (2) The creation of a naval force. . . . (3) Commissions 
to be granted to our merchant vessels authorizing them to arm 
to defend themselves. . . . (4) The organization of an army 
of twenty-five thousand men to be ready to serve if war breaks 
out. . . ." -^ 

Fisher Ames [Federalist, Mass.] to 0. IVolcott, Jr. (March 
24, 1797). "The great theme of every man's inquiries is, are 
we going to war with France. This is dreaded as it ought to 
be, and after that, it is still dreaded as it ought not to be; for 
I think I discover a preference of peace to honor and real inde- 
pendence. France is feared as if her cut-throats could frater- 
nize us, and loved by the multitude as if they were not cut- 
throats." -* 

0. IVolcott [Federalist. Conn.] to Pres. .tohn Adams (Nov.. 
1798). ". . . . Of the practicability of forming an alliance 
[with England] there can be little doubt, and to attain this 
object, a declared state of war with France is necessary, or, at 
least, would be a resulting consequence. . . . But the sending 
another minister to make a new attempt at negotiation would 
be an act of humiliation to which the United States ought not 
to submit without extreme necessity; no such necessity exists, 
it must therefore be left to France, if she is desirous of accom- 
modation, to take the requisite steps, . . . and if France shall 
send a minister to negotiate, he will be received with honour 
and treated with candour. ..." -'' 



23. Lodge, Hamilton's Works, X, 243-245. 

24. Geo. Gibbs, Administrations Washington and Adams, I, 477. 

25. Same, II, 170-171. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 301 

3. OVERTHROW OF HAMILTONIAN FEDERALISM, 
1798-1801 

a. Alien and Sedition Legislation: 

Naturalization Act (June 18, 1798). " Sec. 1. Be it enacted, 
. . . that no alien shall be admitted to become a citizen of the 
United States, . . . unless he shall have declared his intention 
to become a citizen of the United States, five years, at least, 
before his admission, and shall . . . declare and prove . . . 
that he has resided within the United States fourteen years, at 
least. . . ."-« 

Alien Act (June 25. 1798). "Sec. 1. Be it enacted. . . . 
That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States 
... to order all such aliens as he sliall judge dangerous to the 
peace and safety of the United States. ... to depart out of 

the territory of the United States \nd in case any alien. 

so ordered to depart, shall be found at large, . . . and not 
having obtained a license from the President to reside therein, 
. . . shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not 
to exceed three years, and shall never after be permitted to be- 
come a citizen of the United States." -' 

The Sedition Act (July 14. 1798). ". . . Sec. 2. And be 
it further enacted. That if any person shall write, print, utter 
or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, ... or shall 
knowinglv and willingly assist or aid in writing. . . . any false, 
scandalous, and malicious writing or writings against the gov- 
ernment of the United States, or either house of the Congress 
of the United States, or the President of the United States, with 
intent to defame the said government, or either house of the 
said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either 
of them into contempt or disrepute ; or to excite against them, 
or either of them, the hatred of the good people of the United 
States, or to stir up sedition without the United .States, . . . 
then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of 
the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished 



26. Wm. ^racdonaId, Select Documcn;s, 138-139. 

27. Wm. Macdonald, Select Documfnts, 142. 



302 AMERICAN HISTORY 

by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprison- 
ment not exceeding two years." -^ 

b. The Kentucky Resolutions: 

First Kentucky Resolutions (Nov. 16, 1798). "I. Resolved, 
that the several States composing the United States of America, 
are not united on the political principle of unlimited submission 
to their general government ; but that by compact . . . they 
constituted a general government for special purposes, delegated 
to that government certain definite powers, reserving each State 
to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-govern- 
ment ; and that whensoever the general government assumes 
undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and 
of no force. . . . 

III. Resolz'cd, that ... no power over the freedom of 
religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being dele- 
gated to the United States, ... all lawful powers respecting 
the same did of right remain and were reserved to the States, 
or to the people. . . . 

IV. Resolved, that alien friends are under . . . the pro- 
tection of the State wherein they are. . . . 

IX. . . . And that, therefore, this commonwealth is deter- 
minded, as it doubts not its co-States are, tamely to submit to 
undelegated and consequently unlimited powers in no man or 
body of men on earth ; . . . and that the co-States, recurring 
to their natural rights in cases not made Federal, will concur in 
declaring these acts void and of no force, and will each unite 
with this commonwealth in requesting their repeal at the next 
session of Congress." -^ 

Second Resolutions (Nov. 22, 1799). "... Resolved, That 
. . . the several states who formed that instrument [the Consti- 
tution] being sovereign and independent, have the unquestion- 
able right to judge of the infraction; and that a Nullification by 
those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under color 
of that instrument is the rightful remedy; . . . this common- 



28. Wm. Macdonald, Select Documents, 147. 

29. Wm. Macdonald, Select Documents, 149-151. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 303 

wealth does now enter against them [alien, etc., laws] its sol- 
emn PROTEST." 30 

c. Federal Despondency: 

Hamilton to J . Dayton (1799). "An accurate view of the in- 
ternal situation of the United States presents many discouraging 
reflections to the enlightened friends of our government and 
country. Notwithstanding the unexampled success of our pub- 
lic measures at home and abroad — notwithstanding the instruc- 
tive comments afforded by the disastrous and disgusting scenes 
of the French Revolution — public opinion has not been amelio- 
rated ; sentiments dangerous to social happiness have not been 
diminished; on the contrary, there are symptoms . . . that 
among the most numerous class of citizens, errors of a very per- 
nicious tendency have not only preserved but extended their 
empire. Though some things may have been gained on the side 
of men of information and property, more has probably been 
lost on that of persons of a different description. . . . 

It is likewise apparent that opposition to government has 
acquired more system than formerly, is bolder, . . . and more 
open and enterprising in its projects. . . . 

Amidst such serious indications of hostility, the safety and 
the duty of supporters of the government call upon them to 
adopt vigorous measures of counteraction. It will be wise in 
them to act upon the hypothesis that the opposers of the gov- 
ernment are resolved, if it shall be practicable, to make its ex- 
istence a question of force. . . . [Hence] it will be an unpar- 
donable mistake on their part if they do not exert them [selves] 
to surround the constitution with more ramparts. . . . The 
measure proper to adopt may be classed under heads : 

First. — The extension of the judiciary system, . . . [which] 
ought to embrace two objects : one, the subdivision of each State 
into small districts (suppose Connecticut into four, and so on 
in proportion), assigning to each a [federal] judge . . . ; the 
other, the appointment in each county of [federal] justices of 
the peace. . . . 

Second. — Provision for augmenting the means and consoli- 



30. Wm. Macdonald, Select Documents, 159. 



304 AMERICAN HISTORY 

dating the strength of the government. A milHon dollars may 
... be added to the revenue. . . . 

Our naval force ought to be completed to six ships of the 
line, twelve frigates, and twenty four sloops of war. . . . Our 
military force should, for the present, be kept upon its actual 
[war] footing. 

Third. — Arrangements for confirming and enlarging the legal 
powers of the government. . . . An article . . . for empow- 
ering Congress to open canals in all cases in which it may be 
necessary to conduct them through two or more states. . . . 

Happy would it be if a clause could be added to the con- 
stitution, enabling Congress, on the application of any considera- 
ble portion of a State, containing not less than a hundred thou- 
sand persons, to erect it into a separate State. . . . The sub- 
division of the great States is indispensable to the security of the 
general government, and zvith it of the Union. . . . 

The subdic'isiion of siich States ought to he a cardinal point 
in the federal [partyl policy. 

Fourth. — Laws for restraining and punishing incendiary and 
seditious practices. . . . To preserve confidence in the officers 
of the general government, ... is essential to enable them to 
fulfil the ends of their appointment. . . . But what avail laws 
which are not executed? Renegrade aliens conduct more than 
one of the most incendiary presses of the United .States. . . . 
Why are they not sent away ? . . ." •''^ 

d. Breach in the Federal Party: 

Hamilton to T. Sedgzi'ick (May 10, 1800). "For my indi- 
vidual part my mind is made up. I will never more be respon- 
sible for him [Adams] by my direct support, even though the 
consequence should be the election of Jefferson. If we must 
have an enemy at the head of the government, let it be one we 
can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible. . . . Under 
Adams as under Jefferson, the government will sink. . . ." ^^ 

Hamilton to Chas. Carroll (July 1, 1800) " His [Adams'] 
administration has already very materially disgraced and sunk 



31. H. C. Lodge. HamDton's Works, .\, 329-336. 

32. H. C. Lodge, Hamilton's Works, .\, 375. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 305 

the government. There are defects in his character which must 
inevitably continue to do this more and more. Dr. Franklin 
, . . drew this portrait of Mr. Adams : ' He is always honest, 
sometimes great, but often mad,' I subscribe to the justice of 
this picture, adding, as to the first trait of it, as far as a man 
excessively vain and jealous and ignobly attached to place can 
be.." 33 

e. Election of 1800: 

Hamilton to O. Wolcott (Dec. 16. 1800). "It is now .... 
ascertained that Jefferson or Burr will be president, and it 
seems probable that they will come with equal votes to the 
House of Representatives. ... In this event, the Federalists 
in Congress, or some of them, talk of preferring Burr. I trust 
New England at least will not so far lose its head as to fall into 
this snare . . . upon every virtuous and prudent calculation 
Jefferson is to be preferred. . . . 

As to Burr, there is nothing in his favor. . . . Let it not 
be imagined that Mr. Burr can be won to the federal views. 

'> 34 

Hamilton to O. Wolcott (Dec. 17, 1800). "If Jefferson is 
President, the whole responsibility of bad measures will rest 
with the Anti-federalists. If Burr is made so by the Federal- 
ists, the whole responsibility will rest with them." ^^ 

Hamilton to Bayard (Dec. 27, 1800). "Be assured that 
this man [Burr] has no principle, public nor private, . . . and 
[is] of an ambition that will be content with notliing less than 
permanent power in his own hand. . . . Let me add, that I 
could scarcely name a discreet man of either party in our State, 
who does not think Mr. Burr the most unfit man in the United 
States for the office of President." "•* 

Election of Jefferson (House. Feb. 17, 1801). "Ordered. 
That the ballot be repeated at one o'clock. . . . The states pro- 
ceded . . . to the thirty-sixth ballot; and ... the spe.akek 
declared to the House that the votes of ten States had been 



33. H. C. Lodge, Hamilton's Works, X, 379-380. 

34. Same, 392, 394. 

35. Same, 395-396. 

36. Same, 403-404. 



306 AMERICAN HISTORY 

given for Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia; the votes of four 
States for Aaron Burr, of New York; and that the votes of 
two States had been given in blank ; and that . . . Thomas 
Jefferson . . . had been . . . elected President of the United 
States. . . ."^^ 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What steps were taken in order to put the new gov- 
ernment into operation? (2) For what reasons were the cere- 
monies and proposed titles objected to? (3) What cabinet posi- 
tions created by the first Congress? (4) What means did Ham- 
ilton propose for establishing the national credit? (5) What 
were Hamilton's chief objects in the establishment of the na- 
tional credit? (6) What objections were made to Hamilton's 
plans? (7) On what grounds was the national bank attacked 
and defended? (8) What relations existed between Hamilton 
and Jefferson over domestic issues? (9) Did Hamilton or Jef- 
ferson have the greater faith in the people? (10) What atti- 
tude did Washington wish the United States to take toward 
European war? (11) What attempt did the House make to 
assert a share in treaty making? (12) What were the argu- 
ments against its having such a power? (13) What were re- 
garded as the strong and as the weak points in Jay's treaty? 
(14) What different methods proposed for dealing with France, 
1796-1800? (15) What'were the objects of the Federalists in 
passing the Alien and Sedition Laws? (16) What attitude did 
the Republicans take toward this legislation? (17) What dif- 
ference of constitutional theories between Federalists and Re- 
publicans developed in 1798-1799? (18) What political evils 
does Hamilton claim exist in 1799? (19) What remedies does 
he propose? (20) What trouble within the Federal Party in 
campaign of 1800? (21) Does Hamilton agree with Federalist 
party position on Jefferson-Burr contest in 1800? 

II. (1) Compare party issues before and after 1793. (2) 
Outline relations of United States with foreign nations, 1793- 
1801. (3) Contrast principles of Federalists and Republicans. 

III. (1) What internal conditions not mentioned in extracts 
influenced parties and legislation? (2) What were the Euro- 
pean conditions that caused complications between Europe and 



37. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, II, 533. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 307 

the United States? (3) What different explanations are made 
of the FederaHst defeat in the election of 1800? 

Text-Book References.— Adams & Trent, 196-212; Ashlev, 
209-246; Channing (revision 1908), 257-292; Hart, 235-259; 
James & Sanford, 215-239; Macdonald's Johnston, 189-207; 
McLaughlin, 233-259; McMaster, 170-173, 197-215; Montgom- 
ery (edition 1905), 239-267; Thomas (edition 1903), 181-199. 



SECTION III 
JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANISM, 1801-1812 

With the inauguration of Jefferson as president in 1801, 
the Republican party ceased to be a mere party of opposi- 
tion, and became charged with the duty of formulating 
policies and carrying them into operation. The first intent 
of this section is to show the ideals of the party when it 
came into power, and the extent to which it had succeeded 
in realizing them in the first two years of its supremacy, 
especially in relation to such questions as forms and cere- 
monies, the public debt, taxes, the army and navy, etc. 

In 1803, however, arose a great question which the 
Republicans had not foreseen — that of the purchase of Lou- 
isiana ; and in answering it they espoused — or at least the 
majority of the party did — the principles of "broad construc- 
tion" and "implied powers," doctrines they had previously 
denied. President Jeft'erson still attempted to cling to old 
Republican principles, suggesting an appeal to the nation 
for a constitutional amendment authorizing and sanctioning 
the acquisition of territory ; but the majority of his party in 
Congress held such action unnecessary, finding the requisite 
power "inherent in independent nations." 

The entire period of 1801 to 1810 was marked by threats 
against or attacks on the Judicial System as organized by 



308 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the Federalists, the Republicans desiring to make the Fed- 
eral (National) Courts more responsive to public opinion. 
The extracts are intended to show the nature of these at- 
tacks and to what extent they were successful by the end 
of this period. 

From 1807 to 1812 foreign relations again became the 
dominant issue. English and I'^rench encroachments upon 
what Americans regarded ks their international rights as 
neutral traders with warring nations led to the embargo of 
1807 and produced another exhibition of the growing Re- 
publican tendency to enlarge the powers of the National 
Government whenever public or party necessity appeared 
to demand it. In the end. the embargo failed to accomplish 
its intended purpose. Then the new and younger generation 
of Republicans, like Clay and Calhoun, demanded a more 
aggressive defense of American rights, and the older Repub- 
licans were either, like Madison, reluctantly forced to enter 
upon the war policy of 1812, or, like Randolph, driven to 
abandon their former party, and go into political opposition. 

1. REPUBLICAN POLICIES IN OPERATION, 1801-1803 

a. Republican Principles: 

President Jefferson's Inaugural Address (Mar. 4, 1801). 
". . .If there be any among us who woukl wish to dissolve 
this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand 
undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of 
opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. 
... I believe this . . . the strongest government on earth. 
I believe it is the only one where every man, at the call of the 
laws, . . . would meet invasions of the public order as his 
own personal concern. . . . 

It is proper that you should understand what I deem the 
essential principles of our government, and consequently those 
which ought to shape its administration. . . . [They are] 
equal and exact justice to all men . . . : peace, commerce and 
honest friendship, with all nations — entangling alliances with 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 309 

none; the support of the state governments in all their rights 
. . . ; the preservation of the general government in its whole 
constitutional vigor . . . ; a jealous care of the right of elec- 
tion by the people . . . ; absolute acquiescence in the decisions 
of the majority — the vital principle of republics, from which 
there is no appeal but to force — the vital principle ... of 
despotism ; . . . the supremacy of the civil over the military 
authority ; economy in the public expenses . . . ; the honest 
payment of our debts . . . encouragement of agriculture, and 
of commerce as its handmaid ; the diffusion of information 
. . . ; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press ; freedom of 
person under the protection of the Iiabcas corpus; the trial by 
jury impartially selected — these principles . . . [have] guided 
our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. . . ." ' 

b. Republican Accomplishments: 

Jefferson to Dickinson (Dec. 19, 1801). "The approbation 
of my ancient friends is, above all things, the most grateful 
to my heart. . . . You will doubtless have been alarmed . . . 
at the proposition to abolish the whole of the internal taxes. 
But it is perfectly safe. They are under a million dollars, and 
we can economize the government two or three millions a year. 
. . . By suppressing at once the whole internal taxes, we 
abolish three-fourths of the offices now existing. . . . " - 

Jefferson to Kosciusko (Apr. 2, 1802). "I hasten to inform 
you, that we are now actually engaged in reducing our military 
establishment one-third, and discharging one-third of our offi- 
cers. . . . The session of the first Congress convened since 
republicanism has recovered its ascendancy, is now drawing to 
a close. They will pretty completely fulfil all the desires of the 
people. They have reduced the army and navy to what is 
barely necessary. They are disarming executive patronage and 
preponderance, by putting down one-half of the offices, . 
which are no longer necessary. These economies have enabled 
them to suppress all the internal taxes. . . . They are opening 
the doors of hospitality to fugitives from the oppressions of 



1. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, III, 318-323. 

2. Lipscomb. Writings of Jefferson, X, 301-302. 



310 AMERICAN HISTORY 

other countries ; and we have suppressed all those forms and 
ceremonies which tended to familiarize the public eye to the 
harbingers of another form of government [monarchy]."^ 

2. THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA, 1803-1805 

a. Effect of the Spanish Retrocession of Louisiana to France 
(1800): 

President Jefferson to Robert Livingston, United States 
Minister to France (Apr. 18, 1802). "The cession of Louisiana 
and the Floridas by Spain to France, works most sorely on the 
United States. ... It completely reverses all the political 
relations of the United States, and will form a new epoch in 
our political course. Of all nations . . . France is the one 
which, hitherto, has offered the fewest points on which we 
could have any conflict of right, and the most points of a com- 
m.unity of interests. From these causes, we have ever looked 
to her as our natural friend. . . . There is on the globe one 
single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual 
enemy. It is New Orleans. . . . France, placing herself in 
that door, assumes to us the attitude of defiance . . . it is im- 
possible that France and the United States can contitme long 
friends, when they meet in so irritable a position. . . . The 
day that France takes possession of New Orleans, fixes the sen- 
tence which is to restrain her forever within her low-water 
mark. It seals the union of two nations, who, in conjunction, 
can maintain exclusive possession of the ocean. From that 
moment, we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and 
nation. We must turn all our attention to a maritime force, 
for which our resources place us on very high ground ; . . . 
This is not a state of things we seek or desire. 

If France considers Louisiana, however, as indispensable 
for her views, she might perhaps be willing ... to [cede] to 
us the island of New Orleans and the Floridas. This would 
certainly, in a great measure, remove the causes of . . . 
irritation, . . . and relieve us from the necessity of taking 
immediate measures for countervailing. . . . [To De Nemours, 
A_pri] 25, 1802]. . . . and though, as I [above] mention the 



3. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, X, 309-310. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 311 

cession of New Orleans and the Floridas to us would be a 
palliative, yet I believe it would be no more, and that this 
measure will cost France, ... a war which will annihilate 
her on the ocean. . . . You know, too, how much I value 
peace, and how unwillingly I should see any event take place 
which would render war a necessary resource; . . . [Febr. 1]. 
. . . For our circumstances are so imperious as to admit of 
no delay as to our course ; and the use of the Mississippi so 
indispensable, that we cannot hesitate one moment to hazard 
our existence for its maintenance. . . ."* 

b. Spanish Closure of the Mississippi (1802): 

Jefferson to Monroe (Jan. 18, 1803). "The agitation of 
the public mind on occasion of the late suspension of our right 
of deposit at New Orleans is extreme. In the Western country 
it is natural, and grounded in honest motives. In the sea ports 
it proceeds from a desire for war, which increases the mercan- 
tile lottery ; in the federalists, generally, and especially those 
of Congress, the object is to force us into war if possible, in 
order to derange our finances, or if this can not be done, to 
attach the western country to them, as their best friends, and 
thus get again into power." ^ 

Madison to Charles Pinckney (Nov. 27, 1802). "You are 
aware of the sensibility of our Western citizens to such an oc- 
currence. This sensibility is justified by the interests they have 
at stake. The Mississippi is to them everything. It is the 
Fludson, the Delaware, the Potomac, and all the navigable riv- 
ers of the Atlantic States, formed into one stream." ® 

c. Republican vs. Federalist Policies: 

Jefferson to Monroe (Jan. 13, 1803). "The measures we 
have been pursuing," being invisible, do not satisfy their [the 
western] minds. Something sensible [visible], therefore, has be- 
come necessary; and indeed our object of purchasing New Or- 
leans and the Floridas is a measure liable to assume so many 



4. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, X, 311-315, 317, 349. 

5. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, X, 343-344. 

6. Hunt, Writings of James Madison, VI, 462. 

7. Correspondence with Spain over the closure of the Mississippi. 



312 AMERICAN HISTORY 

shapes, that no instructions could be squared to fit them. It was es- 
sential then, to send a minister extraordinary, to be joined 
with the ordinary one, with discretionary powers ; . . . Having 
determined on this, there could be no two opinions among the 
republicans as to the person. You possessed the vmlimited 
confidence of the administration and of the western people; 
. . . All eyes, all hopes are now fixed on you ; . . ." ^ 

Jefferson to Governor Claiborne of Mississippi Territory 
(May 24, 1803). "I consider war between France and England 
as unavoidable. ... In this conflict, our neutrality will be 
cheaply purchased [by France] by a cession of the Island of 
New Orleans and the Floridas, because taking part in the 
war, we could so certainly seize and securely hold them and 
more. . . ." ^ 

Senator Ross, Federalist, of Pennsylvania (During debates 
in Congress on the "Mississippi Question," 1802-03). "Why 
not seize then what is so essential to us as a nation ? . . . Why 
submit to a tardy, uncertain negotiation, as the only means of 
regaining what you have lost ; a negotiation with those who 
have wronged you . . . ? When in possession, you will ne- 
gotiate with more advantage." ^° 

d. Napoleon's Decision to Sell Louisiana: 

Napoleon to Marbois, his Secretary of the Treasury (Apr. 
9, 1803). "I know the full value of Louisiana, and I have 
been desirous of repairing the fault of the French negotiator 
who abandoned it in 1763. A few lines of a treaty have restored 
it to me, and I have scarcely recovered it, when I must expect 
to lose it. But if it escapes from me, it shall one day cost 
dearer to those who oblige me to strip myself of it, than to 
those to whom I wish to deliver it. The English . . . shall not 
have the Mississippi which they covet. . . . The conquest of 
Louisiana would be easy, if they only took the trouble to make 
a descent there. I have not a moment to lose in putting it out 
of their reach. ... I think of ceding it to the United States. 



8 Lipscomb. Writings of Jefferson. X, 343-344. 

9. Lipscomb. Writings of Jefferson, X, 39L 

10. T. H. Benton, .Abridgment of Congressional Debates, IL 668. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 313 

. .. If ... I leave the least time to our enemies, I shall 
transmit only an empty title to those republicans whose friend- 
ship I seek. They only ask of me one town in Louisiana. 
. . . Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. I 
renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will 
cede, it is the whole colony without any reservation. ... I 
renounce it with the greatest regret. ... I direct you [Mar- 
bois] to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United 
States . . . ; have an interview this very day with Mr. Liv- 
ingston. ... I want fifty millions [of francs], and for less 
than that sum I will not treat. . . . "' ^^ 

e. Minister Livingston's Impression of the Purchase: 

Livingston to Monroe (on conclusion of treaty of purchase, 
1803). "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of 
our whole lives. The treaty which we have just signed has 
not been obtained by art nor dictated by force ; ... it will 
change vast solitudes into flourishing districts. From this day 
the United States take their place among the powers of the 
first rank; the English lose all exclusive influence in the af- 
fairs of America." '- 

f. Boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase: 

Terms of the Treaty of Cession (Apr. 30, 1803). "Whereas 
by the . . . treaty . . . [of] St. Ildefonso | Oct. 1, 1800] 
. . . His Catholic Majesty [of Spain] . . . engages . . . 
to cede to the French Republic . . . the colony or province 
of Louisiana, with the same extent that it now has in the 
hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and 
such as it should be after the treaties subsequently entered 
into between Spain and other States . . . : The First Consul 
of the French Republic desiring to give to the Lhiited States 
a strong proof of his friendship, doth hereby cede to the United 
States . . . the territory, with all its rights and appurtenances, 
as fully and in the same manner as they have been acquired 
by the French Republic. . . ."" 



11. Cited in (layaire. History of Louisiana, 521. 

12. Cited in Gayarre, History of Louisiana, 525. 

13. Wm. Macdonald, Documentary Source Book, 279-26 



314 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Minister Livingston to Secretary of State Madison (May 
20, 1803). "I called this morning upon M. Marbois for a fur- 
ther explanation on this subject [the boundaries of Louisiana], 
and to remind him of his having told me that Mobile made a part 
of the cession. He told me that he had no precise idea on the 
subject, but that he knew it to be a historical fact, and on that 
only he had formed his opinion. I asked him what orders . . . 
had been given by Spain, as to the boundary, in ceding it ? 
He assured me he did not know ; . . . I asked the minister 
[Talleyrand] what were the east bounds of the territory ceded 
to us? He said he did not know; we must take it as they had 
received it. I asked him how Spain meant to give them pos- 
session. He said according to the words of the treaty. But 
v/hat did you mean to take ? I do not know. Then you mean 
that we shall construe it in our own way ? I can give you 
no directions ; you have made a noble bargain for yourselves, 
and I suppose you will make the most of it." ^* 

Jefferson to Breckinridge (Aug. 12, 1803). "The boun- 
daries, which I deem not admitting question, are the high 
lands on the western side of the Mississippi enclosing all its 
waters, the Missouri of course, and terminating in the line 
drawn from the northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods 
to the nearest source of the Mississippi. . . . We have some 
claims, to extend on the seacoast westwardly to the Rio Norte, 
. . . and better, to go eastwardly to the Rio Perdido, between 
Mobile and Pensacola, the ancient boundary of Louisiana. 
These claims will be a subject of negotiation with .Spain, and 
if, as soon as she is at war. we push them strongly with one 
hand, holding out a price in the other, we shall certainly ob- 
tain the Floridas, and all in good time." ^^ 

g. Jefferson's Proposal of a Constitutional Amendment: 

Jefferson to Breckinridge (Aug. 12, 1803). "This treaty 
must of course be laid before both Houses, because both have 
important functions to exercise respecting it. They, I presume, 
will see their duty to their country in ratifying and paying for 



14. Gales & Seaton. .\nnals of Congress, 1802-03, Appendix 1152. 

15. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, X, 407-408. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 315 

it, so as to secure a good which would otherwise probably be 
never again in their power. But I suppose they must then 
appeal to the nation for an additional article to the Constitution, 
approving and confirming an act which the nation had not 
previously authorized. The Constitution has made no provi- 
sion, for our holding foreign territory, still less for incorporat- 
ing foreign nations into our Union. . . ."^^ 

h. Federalist Criticism and Republican Defence of Purchase: 

Debates in House, oi'cr an appropriation to carry out the 
terms of the Treaty (Oct.-Nov., 1803). 

Mr. White (Federalist, Del.) — "I wish not to be understood 
as predicting that the French will not cede to us the . . . 
possession of the territory. I hope to God they may, for pos- 
session of it we must have — I mean of New Orleans. . . . 
But as to Louisiana, this new, immense, unbounded world, if 
it should ever be incorporated into this Union, which I have 
no idea can be done but by altering the constitution, I believe 
it will be the greatest curse that could at present befall us ; 
. . . Gentlemen on all sides, with very few exceptions, agree 
that the settlement of this country will be . . . dangerous to 
the United States ; . . . we have already territory enough, 
... I would rather see it given to France, to Spain, or to any 
other nation . . . upon the mere condition that no citizen 
of the United States should ever settle within its limits, than 
[that] we retain the sovereignty." 

Mr. Pickering (Federalist, Mass.) — " He believed that our 
Administration admitted that this incorporation could not be 
effected without an amendment of the Constitution ; and he 
conceived that this necessary amendment could not be made 
in the ordinary mode, . . . He believed the assent of each 
individual state to be necessary for the admission of a foreign 
country as an associate in the Union. . . . Mr. P. had never 
doubted the right of the United States to acquire new terri- 
tory, . . , and to govern the territory so acquired as a depend- 
ent province ; and in this way Louisiana might have become a 
territory of the United States. ..." 

Mr. Thatcher (Federalist, Mass.) — "The confederation un- 



16. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, X, 408. 



316 AMERICAN HISTORY 

der which we now live is a ])artnership of States, and it is not 
competent to it to achnit a new partner, but with the consent 
of all the partners." 

j\Ir. Crowinshielcl (Republican, Mass.) — "Feeling as I do 
that we have acquired this country at a cheap ijrice, that it is a 
necessary barrier in the Southern and Western quarters of the 
Union, that it offers immense advantages to us as an agricul- 
tural and commercial nation. I am highly in favor of the acqui- 
sition." 

Mr. Mitchell (Republican, X. Y.) — "My colleague has de- 
clared that the President and the Senate have no power to ac- 
quire new territory by treaty, and he argues that our people 
are to be forever confined to their present limits. This is an 
assertion directly contrary to the powers inherent in independ- 
ent nations, and contradictory to the frequent and allowed 
exercise of that power in our own nation." ^' 

i. Dispute with Spain over Louisiana Boundaries: 

President Jefferson to Congress (Dec. 3. 1805). "With 
Spain our negotiations for a settlement of differences have not 
had a satisfactory issue. . . . Propositions for adjusting ami- 
cably the boundaries of Louisiana have not been acceded to. 
While, however, the right is unsettled, we have avoided chang- 
ing the state of things by taking new posts or strengthening 
ourselves in the disputed territories, in the hope that the other 
power [Spain] would not, by contrary conduct, oblige us to 
meet their example, and endanger conflicts of authority the 
issue of which may not be easily controlled. But in this hope 
we have now reason to lessen our confidence. ... I have 
therefore found it necessary at length to give orders to our 
troops on that frontier, to be in readiness to protect our citi- 
zens, and to repel by arms any similar aggression in future." '^ 



17. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Congressional Debates, III, 10, 67-68. 

18. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, III. 387-388. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 317 

3. REPUBLICAN ATTACK UPON THE FEDERAL 
JUDICIARY 

a. Republican Criticism of the Courts established by the 
Federalists: 

Jefferson to John Dickinson (Dec. 19. 1801). "My great 
anxiety at present is, to avail ourselves of our ascendency to 
establish good principles and good practices; to fortify repub- 
licanism behind as many barriers as possible, that the outworks 
may give time to rally and save the citadel, should that be 
again in danger. On their part, they [the Federalists] have 
retired into the judiciary as a stronghold. There the remains 
of Federalism are to be preserved . . . , and from that bat- 
tery all the works of republicanism are to be beaten down. 

" 19 

Timothy Pickering to George Cobot (Jan. 29, 1804). "The 
Federalists are dissatisfied because they see the public morals 
debased by the corrupt and corrupting system of our rulers. 
The independence of the judges is now directly assailed. 
... By the Philadelphia papers, I see that the Supreme 
Court judges of Pennsylvania are to be hurled from their 
seats on the pretense that, in punishing one Thomas Passmore 
for contempt, they acted illegally and tyrannically. I presume 
that [others] ... are to be removed by the Governor, on the 
representation of the Legislature. And when such grounds are 
taken, in the national and State Legislatures, to destroy the 
rights of the judges, whose rights can be safe?"-° 

Cabot to Pickering (Feb. 14, 1804). "The independent ju- 
diciary was the best feature in our national system, but it is 
abolishing." -" 

b. The question of what constitutes an impeachable offence: 
Case of Justice Chase. 

Mr. Campbell, Republican (Febr. 20, 1805. "[Opening for 
the prosecution,] . . . Impeachment, therefore, according 
to the meaning of the constitution, may fairly be considered 

19. Lipscomb. Writing? of Jefferson, X, 301-302. 

20. H. C. Lodge. Life and Letters of George Cabot, 337-339, 342. 



318 AMERICAN HISTORY 

a kind of inquest into the conduct of an officer, merely as it 
regards his office ; the manner in which he performs the duties 
thereof; and the effects that his conduct therein may have on 
society. It is more in the nature of a civil investigation, than 
of a criminal prosecution. . . . \^fr. Hopkiitson, Federalist, 
for the defence]. "The first proper object of our inquiries 
in this case is to ascertain with proper precision what acts or 
offences of a public officer are the objects of impeachment. 
. . . If it shall appear that the charges exhibited in these arti- 
cles of impeachment are not, even if true, the constitutional 
subjects of impeachment; if it shall turn out on the investiga- 
tion that the judge has really fallen into error . . . ; yet if 
he stand acquitted in proof of any such acts as by the law of 
the land are impeachable offences, he stands entitled to dis- 
charge on his trial. . . . T offer it as a position I shall rely 
upon in my argument, that no judge can be impeached and re- 
moved from office for any act or offence for which he could 
not be indicted." ^* 

c. Partisan appointments to the Federal Courts: 

Jefferson to Gallatin (Sept. 27, 1810). ". . .At length, 
then, we have a chance of getting a republican majority in the 
supreme judiciary. For ten years has that branch braved the 
spirit and will of the nation, after the nation had manifested 
its will by a complete reform in every branch depending on 
them. The event [death of Judge Gushing] is a fortunate one, 
and so timed as to be a God-send to me. I am sure its impor- 
tance to the nation will be felt, and the occasion employed to 
complete the great operation they have so long been executing, 
by the appointment of a decided republican, with nothing 
equivocal about him. . . ."-^ 



31. Benton, Abridgment of Congressional Debaies, III, 233, 237. 
22. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, XII, 429. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 319 

4. THE EMBARGO 

a. Encroachments upon the Neutral Rights of American 
Commerce: 

Resolution of United States Senate (Feb. 12, 1806). "Re- 
solved, That the capture and condemnation, under the orders 
of the British Government, and adjudications of their courts 
of Admiralty, of American vessels and their cargoes, on the 
pretext of their being employed in a trade with the enemies of 
Great Britain, prohibited in time of peace, is an unprovoked 
aggression upon the property of the citizens of these United 
States, a violation of their neutral rights. ... 2. Resolved, 
That the President ... be requested ... to enter into such 
arrangements with the British Government . . . particularly 
respecting the impressment of American seamen, as may . . . 
obtain for themselves and their citizens, . . . that justice to 
which they are entitled." ^^ 

President Jefferson to Congress (Oct. 27, 1807). "Circum- 
stances, fellow citizens, which seriously threatened the peace of 
our country, have made it a duty to convene you at an earlier 
period than usual. . . . The many injuries and depredations 
committed on our commerce and navigation upon the high 
seas for years past . . . are already known to you. . . . On 
the 22nd day of June last, by a formal order from the British 
admiral, the frigate Chesapeake, . . . was attacked by one 
of those vessels which had been lying in our harbors under 
the indulgences of hospitality, was disabled from proceeding, 
had several of her crew killed, and four taken away. On this 
outrage no commentaries are necessary. Its character has been 
pronounced by the indignant voice of our citizens with an em- 
phasis and unanimity never exceeded. I immediately . . . 
interdicted our harbors and waters to all British armed ves- 
sels, forbad intercourse with them . . . and such preparations 
. . . [were] pursued as the prospects rendered proper. An 
armed vessel of the United States was dispatched ... to our 
ministers at London to call on that government for the satis- 
faction and security required by the outrage. . . . The ag- 
gression thus begun has been continued on the part of the 



23. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Congressional Debates, III, 355. 



320 AMERICAN HISTORY 

British commanders, b)' remaining within our waters, in de- 
fiance of the authority of the country. . . . To former viola- 
tions of maritime rights, another is now added of very extensive 
effect. The government of that nation [England] has issued 
an order interdicting all trade by neutrals between ports not 
in amity with them ; . . . Under this new law of the ocean, 
our trade with the Mediterranean has been swept away . . . , 
and that in other seas is threatened with the same fate." '* 

Order of the King's Council of Great Britain (Nov. 11, 
1807) . "Whereas certain orders . . . were, sometime since, 
issued by the Government of France, by which ' the British 
islands were declared to be in a state of blockade.' . . . 
His Majesty is therefore pleased, by and with the advice and 
consent of His Privy Council, to order, . . . that all the 
ports and places of France and her allies, or of any other coun- 
try at war with his Majesty, and all other places in Europe, 
from which, although not at war with His Majesty, the Brit- 
ish flag is excluded, and all ports or places in the colonies be- 
longing to His Majesty's enemies, shall, ... be subject to 
the same restrictions in point of trade and navigation, . . , as 
if the same were actually blockaded by His Majesty's naval 
forces, in the most strict and rigorous manner ; and . . . 
all trade in articles which are the produce or manufacture of 
the said countries or colonies, shall be deemed . . . unlaw- 
ful. . . . "-^ 

Order of Napoleon, Emperor of the French (Milan, Dec. 
17, 1807). "Observing the measures adopted by the British 
Government, on the 11th November last, by which vessels be- 
longing to neutral, friendly or even Powers the allies of Eng- 
land, are made liable, not only to be searched by English crui- 
sers, but to be compulsorily detained in England, and to have 
a tax laid on them, . . , we do decree as follows: Art. 1. 
Every ship . . . that shall have submitted to be searched by 
an English ship, . . , or shall have paid any tax ... to the 
English government, is . . . declared to be denationalized. 
Art. 2. . . . [such] Ships are declared to be good and lawful 
prizes. Art. 3. The British islands are declared to be in a 



24. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, III, 444-447. 

25. Gales & Seaton, Annals of Congress, 1808-09, appendix, 1698-1699. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 321 

state of blockade, both by land and sea. Every ship, . . . that 
sails from the ports of England, or those of the English colo- 
nies, . . . and proceeding to England, or to the English colo- 
nies, or to countries occupied by English troops, is good and 
lawful prize, . . . Art. 4. These measures, which are resorted 
to only in just retaliation of the barbarous system adopted by 
England, . . . shall cease to have any effect with respect to 
all nations who shall have the firmness to compel the English 
Government to respect their flag." -^ 

President Jefferson to Congress (Nov. 8, 1808). "The sus- 
pension of our foreign commerce . . . and the consequent 
losses and sacrifices of our citizens are subjects of just con- 
cern. The situation into which we have thus been forced has 
impelled us to apply a portion of our industry and capital to 
internal manufactures and improvements. The extent . . . 
if. daily increasing, and little doubt remains that the establish- 
ments formed and forming will — under the auspices of cheaper 
materials and subsistence, the freedom of labor from taxation 
with us, and of protecting duties and prohibitions, — become 
permanent." ^^ 

b. The Embargo and Its Effects, 1807-1811: 

President Jefferson to Congress (Special Message, Dec. 18, 
1807.) " The communications now made, showing the great 
and increasing dangers with which our vessels, our seamen, 
and merchandise, are threatened on the high seas and else- 
where, from the belligerent powers of Europe, and it being 
of great importance to keep in safety these essential resources, 
I deem it my duty to recommend the subject to the considera- 
tion of Congress, who will doubtless perceive all the advantages 
which may be expected from an inhibition of the departure of 
our vessels from the ports of the United States." -** 

Act of Congress (Dec. 21, 1807). "Be it enacted by the 
Senate and House of Representatives . . . That an embargo 
be laid on all ships and vessels in the ports and places within 



26. Gales & Seaton, Annals of Congress for 180809, appendix, 1751-1752. 

27. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, III, 483. 

28. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, III, 455-456. 



322 AMERICAN HISTORY 

i \ 

the limits ... of the United States, cleared or not cleared, 
bound to any foreign port or place." -° 

General Armstrong (Paris) to Secretary of State Madison 
(Aug. 30, 1808). "(Confidential). We have somewhat over- 
rated our means of coercing the two belligerants to a course 
of justice. The embargo is a measure calculated, above all 
other, to keep us whole and keep us in peace ; but, beyond this, 
you must not count upon it. Here it is not felt, and in England 
. . . it is forgotten. I hope that, unless France shall do us 
justice, we will raise the embargo, and make in its stead the 
experiment of an armed commerce. . . . " ••'^ 

Jefferson to Thos. Lcib (June 2i, 1808). '"They [Radical 
Federalists] are endeavoring to convince England that we suf- 
fer more by the embargo than they do, and if they will but hold 
out awhile, we must abandon it. It is true, the time will come 
when we must abandon it. But if this is before the repeal of 
the orders in council, we must abandon it only for a state of 
war. The day is not distant, when that will be preferable to a 
longer continuance of the embargo. But we can never remove 
that, and let our vessels go out and be taken imder these or- 
ders, without making reprisals." ^^ 

Campbell Report on Embargo (Report of a Special Com- 
mittee of the House, Nov. 22, 1808) . "What course ought the 
United States to pursue ? Your committee can perceive no 
other alternative but abject and degrading submission, war with 
both nations, or a continuance and enforcement of [the em- 
bargo]. The first can not require any discussion. . . . There 
is no alternative but war with both parties or a continu- 
ance of the present system. . . .^- [The Committee then 
reports a Resolution :] Resolved, That the United States can- 
not, without a sacrifice of their rights, honor, and independence, 
submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France.'" ^-^ 

Representative Quincy, Federalist. Mass. (Debating the 
Campbell report and resolution). "This embargo must be re- 



29. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Congiessional Debates, III, 642. 

30. Gales & Seaton, Annals of Congress for 1808-09, p. 1684. 

31. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, XII, 77. 

32. American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III, 259. 

33. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Congressional Debates, IV, 48. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 323 

pealed. You cannot enforce it for any important period of 
time longer. ... I mean no* to intimate insurrection or open 
defiance . . . , although it is impossible to foresee in what 
acts that ' oppression ' will finally terminate, which, we are told, 
'makes wise men mad.' . . . Thousands in New England see 
in the continuance of this embargo . . . ruin to themselves and 
their families." ^* 

Speech of Governor Trumbull (Federalist) to the Connecti- 
cut Legislature (Feb. 23, 1809). '"Whenever our national leg- 
islature is led to overleap the prescribed bounds of their con- 
stitutional powers, on the State legislatures in great emergen- 
cies devolves the arduous task,- — it is their right, it becomes 
their duty, — to interpose their protecting shield between the 
rights and liberties of the people and the assumed power of 
the general government." ^^ 



5. TRANSFORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 
1810-1812 

a. Young Republican demand for a more National Policy: 

Speeches of Henrx Clay of Keiifiicky (In Congress, 1810- 
1813). 

Dec. 25, 1810. — ". . . Mr. President, I have before said 
on this floor, . . . that I most sincerely desire peace and amity 
with England, . . . But if she persists in a denial of justice 
to us, or if she avails herself of the Occupation of West Flor- 
ida, to commence war upon us, I trust and hope that all hearts 
will unite, in a bold and vigorous vindication of our rights." ^" 

On Bill to Raise Troops, Dec. 31, 1811.— "The difference 
between those who were for fifteen thousand, and those who 
were for twenty-five thousand men, appeared to him to resolve 
itself into the question, merely, of a short or protracted war; 
a war of vigor, or a war of languor and imbecility. . . . The 
object of the force, he understood distinctly to be war, and war 
with Great Britain." 

On Increase of Navy, Jan. 22, 1812. — 'Tt appeared to Mr. 



34. Gales & Seaton, Annals of Congress for 180809, p. 539. 

35. Henry Adams, United States, IV, 418. 

36. Colton, Writings of Clay, I, 162. 



324 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Clay a little extraordinary, that so much, as it seemed to him, 
unreasonable jealousy, should exist against the naval estab- 
lishment. If, said he, we look back to the period of the forma- 
tion of the constitution, it will be found that no such jealousy 
was then excited. In placing the physical force of the nation 
at the disposal of Congress, the convention manifested much 
greater apprehension of abuse in the power given to raise 
armies, than in that to provide a navy. ..." 

On the New Army Bill, Jan. 8, 1813. — "An honorable peace 
is attainable only by an efficient war. My plan would be, to 
call out the ample resources of the country, . . . prosecute the 
war with the utmost vigor, [and] strike wherever we can reach 
the enemy, at sea or on land. . . ."'^' 

b. President Madison's Acceptance of the New Policy: 

President Madison to Congress (June 1, 1812). "Without 
going back beyond the renewal in 1803, of the war in which 
Great Britain is engaged, and omitting unrepaired wrongs of 
inferior magnitude, the conduct of her Government presents a 
series of acts, hostile to the United States as an independent 
and neutral nation. 

British cruisers have been in the continued practice of vio- 
lating the American flag on the great high-way of nations, 
and of seizing and carrying off persons sailing under it ; . . . 
The practice ... is so far from affecting British subjects 
alone, that, under pretext of searching for these, thousands of 
American citizens, under the safeguard of public law, and of 
their national flag, have been torn from their country, and 
from everything dear to them. . . . 

British cruisers have been in the practice also of violating 
the rights and the peace of the coasts. They hover over and 
harass our entering and departing commerce. . . . Under pre- 
tended blockades, without the presence of an adequate force, and 
sometimes without the practicability of applying one, our com- 
merce has been plundered in every sea ; . . . Not content with 
these occasional expedients for laying waste our neutral trade, 
the cabinet of Britain resorted, at length, to the sweeping sys- 



37. D. Mallory, Biography of Henry Clay, I, 280, 287, 314. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 325 

tern of blockades, under the name of 'Orders in Council': 
. . . In reviewing the conduct of Great Britain toward the 
United States, our attention is necessarily drawn to the war- 
fare, just renewed by the savages, on one of our extensive 
frontiers [Canada]. . . . It is difiicult to account for the ac- 
tivity and combinations which have been for some time de- 
veloping themselves among tribes in constant intercourse with 
British traders and garrisons without connecting their hostility 
with that influence. . . . 

We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain, a state of 
war against the United States ; and on the side of the United 
States, a state of peace towards Great Britain. 

Whether the United States shall continue passive under 
these progressive usurpations, and these accumulated wrongs, 
. . . is a solemn question, which the constitution wisely con- 
fines to the Legislative Department of the Government. . . ."^^ 

c. Old Republican Protest against the New Policy: 

Speech of John Randolph, of Virginia (In Congress, Jan. 
13, 1813). "[The] principles of the Republican party . . . — 
what are they? Love of peace, hatred of offensive war; jeal- 
ousy of the State Governments towards the General Govern- 
ment, and of the influence of the Executive Government over 
the co-ordinate branches of that Government; a dread of stand- 
ing armies ; a loathing of public debt, taxes and excises ; ten- 
derness for the liberty of the citizen; jealousy, Argus-eyed 
jealousy, of the patronage of the President. From these prin- 
ciples what desertions have we not witnessed ? 

Principle does not consist in names. Federalism is a real 
thing — not a spectre. . . . It is a living addition to the power 
of the General Government, in preference to the power of the 
States ; partiality for the Executive power, in distinction to that 
of the co-ordinate Departments of the Government ; the sup- 
port of great military and naval force, and of an ' energetic ' 
administration of the Government. . . . That is Federalism. 
And, when I am opposing the course which looks toward the 
rearing up of great Military and Naval Establishments, . . . 



38. Gales & Sealon, Annals of Congress for 1812-13, pp. 1587-1694. 



326 AMERICAN HISTORY 

I care not with whom I vote ; I will be true to my princi- 
ples. ... 

. . . After the Revolution of 1801 [election of Jefferson], 
a curious spectacle was presented to this nation and the world — 
... It was this : that, as if the character that each party had 
borne when in collision with one another was indelible, the two 
parties [Federal and Republican], after power was transferred 
from one to the other, did actually maintain the same character 
which they had derived from impressions received during their 
late conflict; . . . [But] the sweets of power had their effects 
on one side of the House, as the frowns of adversity had upon 
the other ; and after awhile the court and country parties . . . 
changed sides. . . ."^^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What reforms does Jefferson say the Republicans 
propose to introduce? (2) How many of these reforms does 
he regard as accomplished by 1803? (3) What dangers did 
Americans foresee from the Spanish retrocession of Louisiana 
to France in 1800? (4) What threat made by Americans if 
France insists on possession of New Orleans? (5) What dif- 
ference between Republican and Federalist proposals for deal- 
ing with the question raised by the closure of the Mississippi 
in 1802? (6) How many reasons do you find for the decision 
of Napoleon to cede Louisiana to the United States? (7) 
How many and what interpretations of the boundaries of the 
Louisiana purchase? (8) How did Jefferson propose to make 
the purchase of Louisiana consistent with Republican strict 
construction principles? (9) Where did the Republicans in 
Congress find the right to acquire foreign territory? (10) 
Were the Federalists, in their opposition, consistent with their 
previous principles and policies? (H) What is it the Republi- 
cans object to in the Federal Judiciary? (12) In how many 
ways do they attempt to reform the Judiciary? (13) How 
successful is their attack? (14) What was the cause of the 
trouble between the United States and foreign nations in 1807? 
(15) How did the United States attempt to compel England 
and France to desist from depredations on American com- 
merce? (16) How successful was the Embargo policy? (17) 
What policy did Clay propose in place of the Embargo? (18) 
Does Madison's message accept or reject Clay's program? 
(19) What objections did John Randolph make against the 

39. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Congressional Debates, IV, 681-683. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 327 

policy of Madison? (20) How did the principles of Madison's 
message of 1812 compare with those of Jefferson's inaugural 
of 1801? 

II. (1) Write a narrative on The Purchase of Louisiana, 
based on the material here given. (2) Prepare a paper on the 
Foreign Relations of the United States, and their results, 1805- 
1812. (3) Do the extracts prove that the Republicans had 
changed policies by 1812? (4) What was the political signifi- 
cance of the impeachment of Judge Chase ? 

III. (1) How can the Federalist and Republican reversals 
of policy after 1802 be explained? (2) When had the United 
States obtained the " right of deposit " at New Orleans, and 
why and by whom was it taken away in 1802? (3) What con- 
ditions in Europe caused English and French encroachments on 
American commerce and neutral rights ? (4) What made the 
Young Republicans so much more National in their policies 
than the early Republicans ? 

Text-Book References. — Ashley, 246-268; Adams and Trent 
211-228; Channing (revision of 1908), 308-331; Hart, 261-279 
James and Sanford, 241-260; MacDonald's Johnson, 210-223 
McLaughlin, 260-281; McMaster, 215-231; Montgomery (Re- 
vision 1905), 267-291; Thomas (Revision 1903), 200-214. 



SECTION IV 

NATIONAL REPUBLICANISM, 1812-1829 

The Congress that met in December, 1811, was domi- 
nated by a new generation — one born during the Revolu- 
tionary struggle, and grown to manhood as citizens of a 
new nation; with their accession to power the last traces 
of provincialism disappeared, and an American people 
stood forth ready to undertake the solution of a new set of 
problems in a new spirit. The conditions, however, were 
such that the experiences of the war of 1812 were neces- 
sary to give full opportunity for this new national tendency 
to manifest itself in all its power. As the extracts show 
the New England commercial interests were antagonistic 
tc^ a war with England, and the extreme members of the 
Federal party manifested their opposition in the Hartford 



32S AMERICAN HISTORY 

Convention, and its resolutions. The war was essentially a 
party, and, to a great extent, a sectional war, yet it proved 
to be the means to break down, for a time, the last barriers 
to a great national movement. 

With Napoleon's downfall in 1815, the European wars 
ended, and the United States found themselves free, almost 
for the first time to turn to internal problems and this study 
of themselves. The Jeffersonian Republican principles had 
triumphed, but the party under the necessity of doing things, 
had been forced to abandon, to a great extent, its old local 
and strict constructive policies. The Young or National 
Republicans, under the leadership of Clay, Calhoun, Jack- 
son and others, largely from the frontier, under the spell of 
this new Americanism, led the new nation with rapid strides 
along national and broad construction paths. 

The problems that first held their attention were those 
concerned with the material development of the country. 
The people now felt the new spirit and gloried in the out- 
look for the future. The question of independence was no 
longer in doubt ; the Federal constitution had received its 
first interpretation and was already an instrument worshiped 
by a large portion of the American people as the ideal con- 
stitution. The question then was to make this new nation 
great, and to accomplish this end the people turned, for a 
time, more and more strongly to the establishment of a 
national bank, the adoption of a protective tariff, and the 
development of a system of internal improvement as the 
means to realize this desire. There were those who opposed 
this radical innovating spirit, and others who were hardly 
ready to take the pace set, yet in every case those favorable 
to these nationalizing tendencies and policies triumphed. 
But just at the moment when it seemed that localism was 
no longer to be a potent force, the Missouri struggle came 
and laid the foundation for its revival, rather for sectional 
than local ends, however. The states rights doctrine became 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 329 

the basis upon which was buiU a constitutional interpreta- 
tion by means of which sectional slavery might live even 
when its advocates had become a minority of the people. 
In this Missouri controversy the North and the South alike 
came to a better and truer realization of the actual condi- 
tions. The one saw that slavery was not in "process of 
decay" ; and the other came to a fuller understanding of the 
hold that slavery had on every phase of its life. The an- 
tagonism in interest and point of view of the two sections 
brought anew the interpretation of the constitution before 
the people, and. as the slavery struggle grew in importance, 
developed varying constructions. 

The dominance of this thought of national life, and m- 
dependence was also manifested in the evolution and pro- 
mulgation of the AFonroe doctrine. The belief in the fu- 
ture greatness of the Nation stood forth in the thought that 
in air American affairs the final determination rested with 
the nations of this hemisphere with the United States as the 
arbiter. 

This period ends with the formation of new parties, and 
the division of the American people on the questions of 
internal policy. Again the nature of the Union is to be 
tested, but the final solution will be found to rest with a 
democratic, rather than a republican, conception. By 1829, 
then, we find that the Republicans had become nationalized, 
and 'the aristocracy of Federalism had disappeared. But 
now sectionalism entered, and later studies will trace its in- 
fluence and note its results. 

1. THE WAR OF 1812 

a. Its party and sectional nature: 

Debate in the House on The New Army Bill. 

Clay (Ky. Rep.) Jan. 8, 1813. "... [N]egotiation 
has been resorted to, until further negotiation would have 
been disgraceful. Whilst these peaceful expressions are 



330 AMERICAN HISTORY 

undergoing a trial, what is the conduct of the opposition 
[vhe FederaHsts] ? They are the champions of war — 
. They want to draw the sword, and avenge the . 
nation's wrongs. . . . When, however, . . . war with one of 
them has become identified with our independence and our 
sovereignty, . . . behold the opposition veering round and 
becoming the friends of peace and commerce. . . . They are 
for war and no restriction, when the administration is for 
peace. They are for peace and restriction, when the admin- 
istration is for war. . . . [S]teady only in one unalterable 
purpose — to steer, if possible, into the haven of power. . . . 
An honorable peace is attainable only by an efficient war. My 
plan would be to call out the ample resources of the country, 
. . . prosecute the war with the utmost vigor, strike where- 
ever we can reach the enemy, at sea or on land, and negotiate 
the terms of a peace at Quebec or at Halifax. . . . " ^ 

Miller (N. Y. Federalist), Jan. 14, 1814. "I am opposed 
to the bill. 1st. Because the force it seeks to raise is to be 
used in this war of conquest — the crusade against Canada. 2nd. 
Because we have not the information we ought to have, before 
we grant more money, or raise more men, to prosecute this 
ruinous and disastrous war. 3rd. Because I think this admin- 
istration incompetent to conduct the war to a successful is- 
sue. ..." 

Mr. Grundy (Tenn. Rep.) Jan. 5, 1814, "observed that . . . 
a sentiment I expressed at the last session, respecting the con- 
duct of a portion of the opposition, has been much complained 
of. I then said, and I now repeat, that those who systematically 
oppose the filling of the loans, and the enlistment of soldiers, 
are, in my opinion, guilty of moral treason. ..." 

Mr. Calhoun (S. C. Rep.) ". . . He was induced [to 
speak] to correct two essential errors, which gentlemen of the 
opposition have introduced into the discusisons, . . . Gentle- 
men contend that this is not a defensive but an offensive war ; 
. . . The people of this country have an aversion to an offen- 
sive war ; . . . while they [the opposition] readily acknowledge 
possible necessity and justice of one that is defensive. . . . 



1. D. Mallory, Life and Speeches of Henry Clay, I, 242, 258. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 331 

He would lay it down as a universal criterion, that a war is 
offensive or defensive, not by the mode of carrying it on, . . . 
but by the motives and causes that led to it. . . . What, then, 
is the character of the war . . . ? Was it dictated by avarice 
or love of conquest ? . . . They [the Federalists] have ac- 
knowledged that the Orders in Council, and not the conquest of 
Canada, as they now pretend, was the cause of the war. ..." 
Wright (Md. Rep.), Feb. 25, 1814. "I will now proceed to 
show that the war was just in its commencement; that the Or- 
ders in Council are not revoked; that the impressment of sea- 
men is, of itself, a just cause of war; . . . , and that the re- 
taliatory system resorted to by the President was not an act 
of ferocity but of humanity." ^ 

b. The Hartford Convention: 

Resolutions of the Connecticut Legislature (Oct., 1814). 
" . . . We lately enjoyed, in common with the other 
members of the national confederation, the blessings of peace. 
. . . The scene is now reversed. . . . The fleets of a power- 
ful enemy hover on our coasts ; blockade our harbors ; . . . 
We had justly anticipated, from that union, the preservation 
and advancement of our dearest rights and interests ; and while 
the father of his country, . . . guided our councils, we were 
not disappointed in our expectations, . . . But a coalition, not 
less evident than if defined by the articles of a formal treaty, 
arose between the national administration [under Jefferson] 
and that fearful tyrant in Europe [Napoleon], who was aspiring 
to the dominion of the world. No means . . . were left unat- 
tempted, to aid his efforts. . . . From this fatal cause, we 
are . . . involved in an odious and disastrous war. . . . 
The injustice ... of paying our own forces, in the service 
of the United States — a service rendered necessary to defend 
our territory from invasion — is highly aggravated by the con- 
sideration, that the dangers which called them to the field, and 
the concentration of the enemies forces on our coasts, have 
resulted from the ships of the United States having taken ref- 
uge in our [New England] waters. . . ." ^ 



2. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, V, 142, 149-150, 267. 

3. Dwight, History of the Hartford Convention, 344. 



332 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Opinions of the Federalists. 

Pickering to G. Morris (Oct., 1814). "I have even gone 
so far as to say that the separation of the Northern section 
of the States M^ould be ultimately advantageous. . . .""* 

G. Morris to Pickering. " The mad-men and traitors 
[so called by Republicans] assembled at Hartford will, I be- 
lieve, if not too tame and timid, be hailed hereafter as the 
patriots and sages of their day and generation. . . ."^ 

Report of the Convention (Dec. 15, 1814). "Finally, if the 
Union be destined to dissolution, by reason of the multiplied 
abuses of bad administrations, it should, if possible, be the work 
of peaceable times, and deliberate consent. Some new form of 
confederacy should be substituted among those states which 
shall intend to maintain a federal relation to each other. . . . 
That acts of Congress in violation of the constitution are ab- 
solutely void, is an undeniable position. It does not, however, 
consist with the respect . . . due from a confederate state 
toward the general government to fly to open resistance upon 
every infraction of the constitution. . . . But in cases of delib- 
erate, dangerous, and palpable infractions of the constitution, 
affecting the sovereignty of the state . . . ; it is not only the 
right but the duty of such a state to interpose its authority 
for their protection, in the manner best calculated to secure 
that end. . . . Commerce, the vital spring of New England's 
prosperity, was annihilated. Embargoes, restrictions, and the 
rapacity of revenue officers, had completed its destruction. . . . 
The fisheries have shared its fate. . . . 

The last inquiry, what course of conduct ought to be adopted 
by the aggrieved states, is in a high degree momentous. . . . 
[T]hey suggest an arrangement, which . . . will not be dif- 
ficult to conclude, if that government [the U. S.] should be so 
disposed. . . . These states might be allowed to assume their 
own defence, by the militia or other troops. A reasonable 
portion, also, of the taxes raised in each state might be paid 
into its treasury. . . ." 

[Seven constitutional amendments were also proposed.] 



4. H. C. Lodge, Life of Geo. Cabot, 535. 

5. Morris, Life of G. Morris, II, 575. 

6. Dwight, The Hartford Convention, 352-379. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 333 

c. The Treaty of Peace: 

President Madison's Message to Congress (Febr. 17, 1815). 
"To the Senate and House . . . : I lay before Congress copies 
of the Treaty of Peace . . . , signed by the commissioners 
of both parties at Ghent, on the 24th of December, 1814. . . . 
The late war . . . had become a necessary resort to assert the 
rights and independence of the nation. . . . Peace, at all times 
a blessing is peculiarly welcome . . . at a period when the 
causes for the war have ceased to operate ; when the govern- 
ment has demonstrated the efficiency of its powers of defence. 
. . . The reduction of the public expenditures to the demands 
of a peace estabhshment will doubtless engage the immediate 
attention of Congress. . . . Experience has taught us that 
... a certain degree of preparation for war ... is the best 
security for the continuance of peace. The wisdom of Con- 
gress will, therefore, I am confident, provide for the mainte- 
nance of an adequate regular force ; for the gradual advance- 
ment of the Naval Establishment . . . ; the reviving inter- 
ests of commerce will claim the legislative attention at the 
earliest opportunity; . . . But there is no subject that can 
enter with greater force and merit into the deliberations of 
Congress, than a consideration of the means to preserve and 
promote the manufactures which have sprung into existence 
. . . during the period of the European wars. . . . " '^ 

d. Effects of the War of 1812: 

Clay's Summary (Oct. 7, 1815). "The effects of the war 
are highly satisfactory. Abroad, our character, which at 
the time of its declaration was in the lowest state of 
degradation, is raised to the highest point of elevation. . . . 
At home, a government, which, at its formation, was appre- 
hended by its best friends, and pronounced by its enemies to be 
incapable of standing the shock, is found to answer all the 
purposes of its institution. . . . [I]t is demonstrated to be as 
competent to the objects of effective war, as it has been before 
proved to be to the concerns of a season of peace. Govern- 
ment has thus acquired strength and confidence. Our pros- 



7. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, V, 313. 



334 AMERICAN HISTORY 

pects for the future are of the brightest kind." (Jan., 1816). 
'"Have we gained nothing by the war? Let any man look at 
the degraded condition of this country before the war — the 
scorn of the universe, the contempt of ourselves — and tell me, 
if we have gained nothing by the war? Respectability and 
character abroad ; security and confidence at home. . . . The 
glory acquired by our gallant tars, by our Jacksons and our 
Browns on the land, is that nothing? ... Is there a man who 
could not desire a participation in the national glory acquired 
by the war? — yes, national glory, which, however the expres- 
sion may be condemned by some, must be cherished by every 
genuine patriot. . . . The public debt exists. . . . The faith 
of the nation is pledged for its redemption. It can only be 
paid by providing an excess of revenue beyond expenditures, 
or by retrenchment. . . . He was glad the navy had fought 
itself into favor, and that no one appeared disposed to move 
its reduction or to oppose its gradual augmentation. But the 
standing army is the great object of gentlemen's apprehension. 
. . . He contended, that establishments ought to be commen- 
surate with the actual state of the country, should grow with 
its growth, and keep pace with its progress. . . . My policy 
is to preserve the present force, naval and military; to provide 
for the augmentation of the navy ; and, if the danger of war 
should increase, to increase the army also. . . . Construct 
military roads and canals ; . . . He would as earnestly com- 
mence the great work, too long delayed, of internal improve- 
ments. . . . He would also effectually protect our manufac- 
tures. . . . " ^ 



2. THE REPUBLICANS APPLY THE PRINCIPLES OF 
BROAD CONSTRUCTION 

a. The doctrine of Protection applied in the Tariff act of 1816: 

Debate in Congress. Calhoun (S. C. Rep.), April 6, 1816. 
"The debate . . . has been on the degree of protection which 
ought to be afforded to our cotton and woollen manufactures ; 
all professing to be friendly to those infant establishments. 



8. D. Mallory. Life and Speeches of Clay, I, 261, 276-288. 



Mx\KING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 335 

. . . He had asserted that the subject before them was con- 
nected with the security of the country. . . . Commerce and 
agriculture, till lately almost the only, still constitute the prin- 
cipal, sources of our wealth. So long as these remain unin- 
terrupted, the country prospers ; but war, as we are now cir- 
cumstanced, is equally destructive to both. They both de- 
pend on foreign markets ; . . . When our manufactures are 
grown to a certain perfection, as they soon will under the 
fostering care of Government, we will no longer experience 
these evils. The farmer will find a ready market for his sur- 
plus produce ; and, what is almost of equal consequence, a 
certain and cheap supply of all his wants. . . . [H]e firmly 
believed that the country is prepared, even to maturity, for the 
introduction of manufactures. ... It [manufacturing] pro- 
duced an interest strictly American, — as much so as agricul- 
ture ; . . . it is calculated to bind together more closely our 
widely-spread republic. . . . " ^ 

Clay, April 26, 1820. "... Since the first colonization of 
America, the principal direction of the labor and capital of the 
inhabitants, has been to produce raw materials for the con- 
sumption or fabrication of foreign nations. ... I believe we 
are already beginning to experience the want of capacity to 
consume our surplus produce. . . . The country, then, which 
relies upon foreign nations for either of those great essentials 
[food, raiment, and defence] is not, in fact, independent. . . . 
The truth is, and it is in vain to disguise it, that we are a 
sort of independent colonies of England — politically free, com- 
m.ercially slaves. Gentlemen tell us of the advantages of a 
free exchange of the produce of the world. . . . At present, I 
will only say that I too am a friend to free trade, but it must 
be a free trade of perfect reciprocity. ... It is objected, that 
the effect of the encouragement of home manufactures, by the 
proposed tariff, will be, to diminish the revenue from the cus- 
toms. . . . Can any one doubt the impolicy of government 
resting solely upon the precarious resources of such a revenue? 
... In war, the revenue disappears; in peace, it is unsteady. 
. . . But, sir, friendly as I am to . . . manufactures, I would 



9. Cralle, Works of Calhoun, II, 163-172. 



336 AMERICAN HISTORY 

not give to them unreasonable encouragement by protecting 
duties. Their growth ought to be gradual, but sure. . . . " ^° 

Clay, March 30, 1824. "Two classes of politicians divide 
the people of the United States. According to the system of 
one, the produce of foreign industry should be subjected to no 
other impost than such as may be necessary to provide a public 
revenue; and the produce of American industry should be left 
to sustain itself, if it can, with no other than incidental protec- 
tion. . . . According to the system of the other class, whilst 
they agree that the imposts should be mainly . . . relied on 
as a fit . . . source of public revenue, they would so adjust 
and arrange the duties on foreign fabricks as to afford a gradual 
but adequate protection to American industry, and lessen our 
dependence on foreign nations, by securing a certain and ulti- 
mately a cheaper and better supply of our own wants from 
our own abundant resources. . . . 

The last [11th] objection is, that the constitution does not 
authorize the passage of the bill. . . . The gentleman from 
Virginia has, however, entirely mistaken the clause of the con- 
stitution on which we rely. It is that which gives to Congress 
the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. . . . 
It is as full and complete a grant of the power, as that is to 
declare war. What is a regulation of commerce ? It implies 
the admission or exclusion of the object of it, and the 
terms." ^^ 

McDuffie (S. C), April 18, 1828. "Mr. Speaker, it is dis- 
tressing to witness the kind of aristocratic influence, by which 
measures of this sort [protective tariff] are obviously con- 
trolled. I have witnessed, with astonishment and regret, as a 
strong proof of the aristocratic tendency of every system of 
government, the melancholy fact, that intelligent and honorable 
men . . . , in whose congressional district there is perhaps a 
single manufactory of iron, owned perhaps by the very weal- 
thiest man in the country, will give their votes, ... to impose 
an odious and oppressive tax upon the remaining thousands of 
their poor constituents, to increase the profits of one wealthy 
nabob. ... I speak not the language of a demagogue, . . . 



10. D. Mallory, Life and Speeches of Clay, I, 405-419. 
il. D. Mallory, Life and Speeches of Clay, I, 441, 475. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION ZZ7 

when I say, that is the very genius of this system, ... to tax 
the many and the poor, for the benefit of the few and the 
wealthy. . . . Sir, this is not a contest, . . . between the 
Southern and the Northern States. It is a contest of less than 
one hundred thousand manufacturers and farmers, against all 
the other farmers and manufacturers in the Union, and against 
the whole population of the Southern States. ... It brings 
ambition and avarice and wealth into a combination, which it is 
fearful to contemplate, because it is almost impossible to re- 
sist. . . ."12 

Public 0;^/";u'o;i— Remonstrance against increase of duties on 
imports (Petersburg, Va., Nov. 21, 1820). ". . . Your memo- 
rialists are deeply impressed with the ruinous tendency of the 
restrictive system of commerce . . . , and fully convinced 
that the tariff bill, ... if passed, will prove highly detrimental 
to the commercial and agricultural interests of the nation and 
to our revenue, . . . We believe that the prosperity and inde- 
pendence of nations, as of individuals, are essentially connected 
with an unrestricted state of conmierce, securing to each the 
liberty of selling in the dearest market, ... and buying in the 
cheapest . . ." ^^ 

Memorial, Merchants of Philadelphia (Nov. 27). "... 
In short, this nation ... is called upon to determine whether 
it will plunge still deeper into all those measures of prohibition 
and restriction upon trade ; ... of stimulants to rear exclusive 
interests at the national expense, which have contributed 
to bring . . . the [nation] to the very verge of destruction; 
or, by taking warning in time. . . . achieve for ourselves a far 
higher degree of national prosperity than any people . . . have 
ever before attained. . . . " i* 

b. The Republicans become broad constructionists in bank act, 
1816: 

Report of Secretary of Treasury Dallas (Dec. 7, 1815). 
"The establishment of a national bank is regarded as the best, 
and perhaps the only adequate resource, to relieve the country 

12. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, X, 102, 103, 104. 

13. Gales & Seaton, Annals of Congress, vol. 37, app. 1490. 

14. Gales and Seaton, Annals of Congress, i7, App. 1498-99. 



338 AMERICAN HISTORY 

and the Government from the present embarrassments ; author- 
ized to issue notes, which will be received in all payments to 
the United States, the circulation of its issues [notes] will be 
co-extensive with the Union ; . . . " ^^ 

Debate in Congress over the establishment of a National 
Bank. Calhoun (Rep. S. C), Febr. 26, 1816. ". . . The consti- 
tutional question had been already so freely . . . discussed, that 
all had made up their mind on it. The question whether banks 
were favorable to public liberty and prosperity, was one purely 
speculative. . . . The only question was, on this hand, under 
what modifications were banks most useful, and whether the 
United States ought or ought not to exercise the power to es- 
tablish a bank. ..." 

Wells (Del., Fed.), April 1, 1816. "... That which has 
heretofore been the occasion of so much heated controversy, 
was simply a question relating to the existence or non-exist- 
ence of a power in Congress to incorporate a company for es- 
tablishing a bank. That question is now at rest — nor do I 
propose to disturb it. The sole inquiry we now have to make, 
is, as to the true character and just extent of this authority, 
that we may not, in the exercise of it, carry it beyond its 
proper limits. . . . What then is the capital necessary for con- 
stituting a bank to answer this purpose [facilitating payment of 
taxes?] . . . What [proof] that we are not exceeding the pale 
of our authority ? . . . There is another . . . point of view 
which . . . goes to show that this bill does not merely, in re- 
spect to capital, exceed our constitutional authority. I refer 
to that provision which authorizes the appointment of a cer- 
tain proportion of the directors of this bank by the Govern- 
ment. . . . The remaining constitutional objection to this bill 
arises from its interference with the concurrent power of the 
States. ..." 

Webster (N. H. Fed.), April 5, 1816. ". . .What is the 
principle in this case? That control and influence over a great 
banking institution should not be possessed by the Govern- 
ment. . . ."^^ 

Clay to his Kentucky Constituents (June 3, 1816). "On 



15. Clark & Hall, Bank of the United States, 612. 

16. Clark and Hall, Bank of the United States, 630, 694-700, 710. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 339 

one subject, that of the bank of the United States. . . . Mr. 
Clay felt particularly anxious to explain the grounds on which 
he had acted. [In 1811] he was induced to oppose the renewal 
of the charter of the old bank ... by three general considera- 
tions. . . . A third consideration . . . was, that as the power 
to create a corporation . . . was not specifically granted in the 
constitution, and did not then appear to him to be necessary to 
carry into effect any of the powers which were specifically 
granted, Congress was not authorized to continue the bank. 
. . . [Now] a total change of circumstances was presented; 
... A general suspension of specie payments had taken place, 
. . . ; it appeared to him to be the duty of Congress to apply 
a remedy, if a remedy could be devised. A national bank . . . 
was proposed as a remedy. . . . That which appeared to him 
in 1811, under the state of things then existing, not to be nec- 
essary to the general government, seemed now to be necessary, 
under the present state of things." ^'^ 

c. The Republican Congress approves a system of internal 
improvements: 

Calhoun's Speech in Congress (Feb. 4, 1817). "... Thus 
situated, to what can we direct our resources and attention more 
important than internal improvements ? What can add more 
to the wealth, the strength, and the political prosperity of our 
country? . . . It is sufficient to observe, that every branch of 
national industry — agriculture, manufacturing, and commercial 
— is greatly stimulated by it, and rendered more productive 
... In fact, if we look into the nature of wealth, we will find 
that nothing can be more favorable to its growth than good 
roads and canals. . . . Let it not be said that internal improve- 
ments may be wholly left to the enterprise of the States and 
of individuals. I know that much may justly be expected to 
be done by them ; but in a country so new and so extensive as 
ours, there is room enough for all the General and State Gov- 
ernments, and individuals, in which to exert their resources. 
. . . The common strength is brought to bear with great dif- 
ficulty on the point that may be menaced by an enemy. . . . 



17. D. Mallory, Life and Speeches of H. Clay, 262-266. 



340 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Good roads and canals, judiciously laid out are the proper 
remedy .... Our power of raising revenue, in war particu- 
larly, depends mainly on them. . . . 

But on this subject of national power, what can be more 
important than a perfect unity in every part, in feelings and 
sentiments? And what can tend more powerfully to produce 
it than overcoming the effects of distance ? . . . Much of our 
political happiness derives its origin from the extent of our 
republic. . . . Let it not, however, be forgotten ; . . . that it 
[also] exposes us to the greatest of all calamities- — next to the 
loss of liberty — . . . disunion. . . . Let us, then, bmd the 
republic together with a perfect system of roads and canals. 
Let us conquer space. . . .If, however, neglecting them [our 
advantages], we permit a low, sordid, selfish and sectional 
spirit to take possession of this House, this happy scene will 
vanish. ... I understand there are, with some members, con- 
stitutional objections. The power of Congress is objected to: 
first, that there is none to cut a road or canal through a State, 
without its consent ; and next, that the public moneys can only 
be appropriated to effect the particular powers enumerated in 
the constitution. ... I express no opinion on this [the first] 
point, . . . since the good sense of the States may be relied 
on. They will . . . readily yield their assent. ... I am no 
advocate for refined arguments on the constitution. ... It 
ought to be construed with plain, good sense ; . . . The con- 
stitution gives to Congress the power to establish post roads 
and post-ofifices. . . . The first great object is to perfect the 
communication from Maine to Louisiana. . . . The next is 
the connection oi the Lakes with the Hudson River. . . . The 
next object of chief importance is, to connect all the great 
commercial points on the Atlantic [names] with the Western 
States ; and finally, to perfect the intercourse between the West 
and New Orleans." ^* 

President Madison's P'eto Message (March 3, 1817). "Hav- 
ing considered the bill this day presented to me . . . for inter- 
nal improvements, ... I am constrained ... to return it 
with that objection to the House of Representatives in which 



I 



18. Cralle, Speeches of J. C. Calhoun, II, 186-19S. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 341 

it originated. . . . The legislative powers vested in Congress 
are specific and enumerated . . . , and it does not appear that 
the power proposed to be exercised by the bill is among the 
enumerated powers, . . . 'The power to regulate commerce 
among the several states' cannot include the power to con- 
struct roads and canals. . . . To refer the power ... to the 
clause ' to provide for the common defence and general welfare ' 
would be contrary to the established and consistent rules of 
interpretation. ... If a general power to construct roads and 
canals ... be not possessed by Congress, the assent of the 
States . . . cannot confer the power. . . ."^^ 

The House adopts the follozvihg resolution (March 10, 1818). 
"Resolved, That Congress has power, under the Constitution, 
to appropriate money for the construction of post roads, mili- 
tary and other roads, and of canals, and for the improvement 
of water courses," Ayes 78, Noes, 58. " Resolved, That Con- 
gress has power, under the Constitution, to construct post roads 
and military roads; . . . Ayes 70, noes 69." -'' 

President Monroe's Veto Message (May 4, 1822). "Hav- 
ing duly considered the bill entitled 'an act for the preserva- 
tion and repair of the Cumberland road,' it is with deep regret, 
approving as I do the policy, that I am compelled to object 
to its passage . . . under the conviction that Congress do not 
possess the power under the Constitution to pass such a law. 
... It has never been claimed that the power was specifically 
granted. It is claimed as being only incidental. . . . The fol- 
lowing are the powers from which it is said to be derived : 
First, from the right to establish . . . post roads ; second, from 
the right to declare war ; third, to regulate commerce ; fourth, 
to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and gen- 
eral welfare; fifth, from the power to make all laws necessary 
, . . sixth, . . . from the power ... to make all needful 
rules . . .respecting the territory. . . . According to my 
judgment it cannot be derived from either of those powers. 
. . . and in consequence it does not exist." -^ 



19. Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, I, 584-585. 

20. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, VI, 121. 

21. Richardson, Messages and Papers, II, 142-143. 



342 AMERICAN HISTORY 

d. Expansion: Rounding out of Boundaries: 

Treaty with Spain for the Floridas (Febr. 22, 1819). 

"Art. I. There shall be a firm . . . peace and sincere 
friendship between the United States . . . and his Catholic 
Majesty. . . . 

Art. II. His CathoHc Majesty cedes to the United States 
... all the territories which belong to him, situated to the east- 
ward of the Mississippi, known by the name of East and West 
Florida. . . . 

Art. III. The boundary line between the two countries, 
west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulph of Mexico, at 
the 'mouth of the river Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, 
along the western bank of that river, to the 32d degree of lati- 
tude; thence, by a line due north, to the degree of latitude 
where it strikes the . . . Red River ; thence following the 
course of the [Red River] westward, to the degree of longitude 
100 west from London . . . ; thence crossing the said Red 
River, and running thence, by a line due north, to the river 
x'X.rkansas, to its source, in latitude 42 north ; and thence by 
that parallel of latitude, to the South Sea. . . . 

Art. V. The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be 
secured in the free exercise of their religion, without any re- 
striction. . . . 

Art. VI. The inhabitants of the territories . . . [ceded] 
to the United States . . . shall be incorporated in the Union of 
the United States, as soon as may be consistent with the prin- 
ciples of the Federal Constitution. ..." '-'- 

Arguments for ratification of the Treaty. Anderson (Ky.), 
April 4, 1820, '' said he had never heard until lately that 
the acquisition of P'lorida was not eminently desirable to this 
country ; not only on account of its positive advantages, but for 
the purpose of excluding from all ownership any foreign power, 
whose neighborhood would always be unfriendly, and particu- 
larly for preventing its occupation by a power which had a 
strong naval force. The complete natural boundary which its 
possession would give us, its fine ports, the command of the 



22. Petei-s, Statutes at Large, VIII, 254-264. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 343 

gulf (...) had formed the reasons which induced the Amer- 
ican people to desire it. . . . " -'■' 

Opposition to the Terms of the Treaty. Clay, April 3, 1820. 
''First, resolved, that the constitution of the United States 
vests in Congress the power to dispose of the territory belong- 
ing to them ; . . . Second, resolved, that the equivalent proposed 
to be given by Spain to the United States in the treaty con- 
cluded between them on the 22d of February, 1819, for that part 
of Louisiana lying west of the Sabine, was inadequate : . . . 
[The first] involved an inquiry into our claim to Texas. . . . 
He presumed the spectacle would not be presented of question- 
ing, . . . our title to Texas, which had been constantly main- 
tained for more than fifteen years. . . . We wanted Florida, 
or rather we shall want it ; or, to speak more correctly we 
want no one else to have it. . . . It must certainly come to us. 
. . . Florida is enclosed in between Alabama and Georgia, and 
cannot escape. Texas may. He was not inclined to disparage 
Florida, but its intrinsic value was incomparably less than that 
of Texas. . . . The acquisition of it was certainly a fair ob- 
ject of our policy; and ought never to be lost sight of. . . . It 
results, then, that we have given for Florida, . . . First, un- 
incumbered Texas ; Secondly five millions of dollars ; Thirdly, 
a surrender of our claims upon Spain, not included in that 
five millions : . . ." -* 

T. H. Benton in St. Louis Newspaper (1820) said: "The 
magnificent valley of the Mississippi is ours, with all its foun- 
tains, springs and floods ; and woe to the statesman who shall 
undertake to surrender one drop of its water, one inch of its 
soil, to any foreign power." -■• 

Jefferson to President Monroe, May 14, 1820. ". . .1 
confess to you I am not sorry for the non-ratification [by Spain] 
of the Spanish treaty. Our assent to it has proved our desire 
to be on friendly terms with Spain ; their dissent . . . has 
placed them in the wrong in the eyes of the world, and that is 
well ; but to us the province of Texas will be the richest State 
of our Union, without any exception. Its southern part will 



23. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress. VI, 594. 

24. D. Mallory, Biography of Clay, I, 448-460. 
25.. Benton, Thirty Years View, I, 15. 



344 AMERICAN HISTORY 

make more sugar than we can consume, and the Red river, on 
its north, is the most luxuriant country on earth. Florida, more- 
over, is ours. Every nation in Europe considers it such a 
right. . . . " 2« 

3. GROWTH OF NATIONALITY CHECKED BY MISSOURI 
STRUGGLE 

a. The Missouri Enabling Act, and Slavery Amendments: 

Missouri Enabling Act (Dec. 9, 1819). "Be it enacted 
. . . , That the inhabitants of that portion of the Missouri ter- 
ritory included within the boundaries hereinafter designated, be, 
. . . authorized to form for themselves a constitution and state 
government, and to assume such name as they shall think 
proper. ..." 

Slavery Restriction. Jan. 26, 1820, Taylor (N. Y.), pro- 
posed to amend by inserting "And shall ordain and establish, 
that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in 
the said State. ..." 

The Compromise Line. Febr. 17, 1820, Thomas (111.) moved 
"And be it further enacted, That in all that territory ceded by 
France to the United States, under the name Louisiana, which 
lies north of 36° 30' north latitude, excepting [Missouri], 
slavery and involuntary servitude . . . shall be and is hereby 
forever prohibited: . . ." ^^ 

b. Debate in Congress: 

Arguments for restriction. Taylor, (N. Y.), Febr. IS, 1819. 
" . . .1 [now] come directly to the points in issue. First. 
Has Congress power to require of Missouri a constitutional 
prohibition against the further introduction of slavery, as a 
condition of her admission into the Union? Second. If the 
power exists, is it wise to exercise it ? ' New states may be 
admitted into this Union.' This grant of power is evidently 
alternative ; its exercise is committed to the sound discretion 
of Congress : . . . But if Congress has the power of altogether 
refusing to admit new States, much more has it the power of 



26. A. A. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, XV, 251. 

27. Cited in MacDonald, Select Documents, 222. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 345 

prescribing such conditions of admission as may be judged 
reasonable. . . . " 

Tallmadge (N. Y.), Febr. 16, 1819. "Sir, if a dissolution 
of the Union must take place, let it be so ! If civil war, which 
gentlemen so much threaten, must come, I can only say, let it 
come. ... If blood is necessary to extinguish any fire which 
I have assisted to kindle, I can assure gentlemen, while I regret 
the necessity, I shall not forbear to contribute my mite. . . . 
I know the will of my constituents, and, regardless of conse- 
quences, ... I will proclaim their hatred to slavery in every 
shape ; as their representative, here will I hold my stand until 
this floor, with the constitution of my country which supports 
it, shall sink beneath me. . . ."^s 

Arguiiiciifs against restriction. Wm. Pinkney (Md.), Febr. 
15, 1820. "... What is that Union [into which new states 
may be admitted ?] A confederation of States equal in sov- 
ereignty — capable of everything which the constitution does 
not forbid, or authorize Congress to forbid. It is an equal 
union, between parties equally sovereign. . . . By acceding to 
it, the new State is placed on the same footing with the original 
States. ... Is the right to hold slaves a right which Massa- 
chusetts enjoys? If it is, Massachusetts is under this Union 
in a different character from Missouri [if restriction passed]."-^ 

Walker (Ga.), Jan. 19, 1820. "... Mr. President, unless 
these men [of Missouri] are composed of different materials 
from what I presume they are, I fear — much do I fear — that the 
imposition of restrictions, or the refusal to admit them uncon- 
ditionally into the Union, will excite a tempest, whose fury 
will not be easily allayed. . . . " ^° 

Archer (Va.), Dec. 11, 1820. "He was not unaware, that 
the language he had been holding of guarded respect for States 
rights, had been for some time going out of fashion. It was 
but too obvious to remark, that the essential defences of the 
States were rapidly giving way before the steady and powerful 
current of Federal authoritv. . . ."^^ 



28. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress. VI, 334-335, 357. 

29. T. H. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, VI, 439-440. 

30. Gales and Seaton, Annals of Congress. 35. p. 175. 

31. Benton, Abridgment of Debates, VII. 35. 



346 AMERICAN HISTORY 

c Expressions of Public Sentiment: 

Resolutions of a Missouri Grand Jury (July, 1819). "The 
grand jurors . . . view the restrictions attempted to be imposed 
on the people of the Missouri territory in the formation of a 
state constitution, unlawful, unconstitutional, and oppressive. 
. . . They hope those restrictions will never more be attempted ; 
and if they should, they hope by the assistance of the genius of 
'/6 . . . to find means to protect their rights." ^- 

Jefferson to Win. Short (April 13, 1820). "Although I had 
laid it down as a law to myself, never to write, talk, or even 
think of politics, to know nothing of public affairs, and there- 
fore had ceased to read the newspapers, yet the Missouri ques- 
tion aroused and filled me with alarm. The old schism of fed- 
eral and republican threatened nothing, because it existed in 
every State, and united them together by th'e fraternism of 
party. But the coincidence of a marked principle, moral and 
political, with a geographical line, once conceived, I feared 
would never more be obliterated from the mind ; that it would 
be recurring on every occasion and renewing irritations, until 
it would kindle such mutual and mortal hatred, as to render 
separation preferable to eternal discord. . . ."^^ 

4. THE UNITED STATES ASSERTS ITS DOMINANCE IN 
THE AMERICAS 

a. Clay's American Political System: 

A means to secur? liberty (Clay, May 10, 1820). ' ... It 
is in our power to create a system of which we shall be the 
centre and in which all South America will act with us. In 
respect to commerce we should be most benefited ; this country 
would become the place of deposit of the commerce of the 
world. . . . We should become the centre of a system which 
would constitute the rallyi;ig point of human wisdom against 
all the despotism of the Old World. . . . Our institutions now 
make us free; but how long shall we continue so, if we mould 
our opinions on those of Europe? Let us break these commer- 
cial and political fetters; let us no longer watch the nod of 



32. Niles, Register, 17, p. 71. 

33. A. A. Lipscomb, Writings of Jefferson, XV, 247. 



STAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 347 

any European politician ; let us become real and true Americans, 
and place ourselves at the head of the American system. . . ."•''* 
Congress passes bill to provide for Ambassadors (April 29, 
1822). "The Senate . . . took up . . . the bill from the House 
oc Representatives making an appropriation of $100,000, to de- 
fray the expenses of missions to the independent nations on 
the American continent. Carried, 39 to 3." ^^ 

b. The Monroe Doctrine Asserted: 

/. Q. Adams to the Russian Minister (July 17, 1823). "I told 
him specially that we should contest the right of Russia to any 
territorial establishment on this continent, and that we should 
assume distinctly the principle that the American continents are 
no longer subjects for any new European colonial establish- 
ments." ^^ 

Richard Rush, American Ambassador in England, to George 
Canning, British Secretary of Foreign Affairs (Sept. 19, 1823). 
'• I [R. Rush] said, ' The United States . . . would 
view any attempt on the part of France and the Con- 
tinental Alliance to resubjugate those new [So. American] 
states, as a transcendent act of national injustice, and 
indicative of . . . alarming ambition ; . . . He [G. 
Canning] replied : ' They [the United States] were the first 
Power established . . . [in America]. They were connected with 
Spanish America by their position, as with Europe by their 
relation. . . . Was it possible they could see with indifference 
their fate decided upon by Europe ?' . . . He had the strong- 
est reason for believing that the cooperation of the United 
States with England . . . would ward off altogether the medi- 
tated jurisdiction of the European Powers over the new world. 
'The complication of the subject,' said I, 'may be cured at once, 
and by Great Britain. Let Great Britain immediately . . . 
ackno-ii'ledge the Independence of the nezc States. This will 
put an end to all difificulty. . . .'"•''" 

Jefferson to President Madison (Oct. 24. 1823). "The ques- 



.U. Gales and Seaton, Annals of Congress, vol. 36, 2226. 2227-28. 

35. Gales and Seaton, Annals of Congress, vol. 38, 429, 431. 

36. Adams, Memoirs. \'I, 163. 

37. R. Rush, The Court of London, 430-432. 



348 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tion presented by the letters you have sent me, is the most mo- 
mentous . . . since that of independence. That made us a nation, 
this . . . points the course we are to steer through the ocean of 
time opening on us. . . . Our first and fundamental maxim 
should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe. 
Our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis- 
Atlantic affairs. America, North and South, has a set of inter- 
ests distinct from those of Europe, and peculiarly her own. 
She should, therefore, have a system of her own, separate and 
apart from that of Europe. While the last is laboring to become 
the domicile of despotism, our endeavor should surely be, to 
make our hemisphere that of freedom. One nation, [England] 
most of all, could disturb us in this pursuit; she now offers to 
lead, aid, and accompany us in it. By acceding to her propo- 
sition we . . . bring her mighty power into the scale of free 
government, and emancipate a continent at one stroke, which 
might otherwise linger long in doubt and difficulty. . . ." ^^ 

c. The Monoe Doctrine Formulated: 

Monroe's Message to Congress (Dec. 2, 1823) . ". . . In the 
discussions [with Russia] . . . the occasion has been judged 
proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and 
interests of the United States are involved, that the American 
continents, by the free and independent position which they 
have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered 
as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. 
... In the wars of the European powers in matters relating 
to themselves we have never taken any part. . . . With the 
movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more imme- 
diately connected. . . . The political system of the allied pow- 
ers is essentially different in this respect from that in America. 
This difference proceeds from that which exists in their re- 
spective governments : . . . We owe it, therefore, to candor 
and to the amicable relations existing between the United 
States and those powers to declare that we should consider any 
attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of 
this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. . . .Our 
policy in regard to Europe . . . is, not to interfere in the in- 



38. A. A Lipscomb. The Writings of Thos. Jefferson, XV, 477-478. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 349 

tcrnal concerns of any of its powers. . . . But in regard to 
these continents circumstances are . . . different. It is impos- 
sible that the allied powers should extend their political system 
to any portion of either continent without endangering our 
peace and happiness ; nor can any one believe that our south- 
ern brethren, . . . would adopt it of their own accord. It is 
equally impossible, . . . that we should behold such interposi- 
tion in any form with indifference. . . ."^^ 

d. The Monroe Doctrine Interpreted: 

President Adams' Message to Senate (Dec. 26, 1825). "In 
the [my first] message ... it was mentioned that the Gov- 
ernments of the Republics of Columbia . . . had . . . invited 
the 'Government of the United States to be represented at a 
Congress of American nations to be assembled at Panama to 
deliberate upon objects of peculiar concernment to this hemi- 
sphere. . . . An agreement between all the parties represented 
at that meeting that each will guard by its own means against 
the establishment of any future European colony within its 
border may be found advisable. . . ."*° 

5. POLITICAL PARTIES REORGANIZED AFTER " ERA OF 
GOOD FEELING " 

a. Denial of a " corrupt bargain": 

Speech by Clay (Aug. 30, 1826). "... Driven from every 
other hold, they [Jackson's friends] have seized on the only 
other plank left within their grasp, that of my acceptance of the 
ofifice of secretary of state, which has been asserted to be the 
consummation of a previous corrupt arrangement. . . . If I 
had refused the department of State, the same individuals . . . 
[who] proclaim the existence of a corrupt previous arrange- 
ment, would have propagated the same charge. ... A spirit 
of denunciation is abroad. . . . This is not a fit occasion, nor 
perhaps am I a fit person, to enter upon a vindication of its 
[the administration's] measures. . . . With respect to the 
Panama mission, it is true that it was not recommended by any 

39. Richardson, Messages and Papers, II, 209, 218-219, 

40, Richardson, Messages and Papers. II, 318-319. 



350 AMERICAN HISTORY 

previous administration, because the circumstances of the world 
were not then such as to present it as a subject for discussion. 
. . . There are persons who would impress on the southern 
states the belief that they have just cause of apprehending dan- 
ger to a certain portion of their property [slaves] from the 
present administration. . . . However much the president and 
the members of his administration may deprecate the existence 
of slavery among us. there is not one of them that does not 
believe that the constitution . . . confers no authority to inter- 
pose between the master and his slaves. . . ."*^ 

b. The opponents of Adams seize on the Panama Mission to 
attack the Administration: 

Debate in House over a resolution calling upon the President 
to give them the information that induced him to send ministers 
to the Congress of Panama (Jan. 31, 1826). 

Floyd (Va. ; Anti-Adams). ". . . Sir, I am in favor of 
this people, and I am in favor of 'an American policy.' But 
is this to lead us to all the entangling consequences which may 
grow out of this Congress ? . . . Are we to engage in a cru- 
sade against the Holy Alliance, and plunge ourselves into a 
war with half Europe, and that too on a doubtful question? 
. . . Shall we not be called on to consult what amount of men 
and money will be requisite to liberate Porto Rico and Cuba ? 
and to settle what shall be the condition of Hayti ? . . . 
Sir, I should like very much to know, whether an Ambassador 
is to be received there from the Republic of Hayti ? . . . Is 
this Congress to tell the gentleman from South Carolina, and 
all of us from the Southern States, that 'all men are free and 
equal ' ; . . . and if you refuse to make them so, we will bring 
seven Republics, in full march, to compel you [the Emperor of 
Brazil], in the same manner that, on the other Continent, the 
Holy Alliance sent their combined armies to march against 
Naples? ..." 

Trimble (Ohio. Pro- Adams). "... This mission was a 
question of national policy, upon which public opinion ought to 
have its full force. It would be useless to call for information 
after a false step shall be taken, . . . His leaning was decidedly 



41. D. Mallory. Writings of Clay, I, 510-513. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 351 

in favor of the mission, and he thought there ought to be but 
one opinion in the country on the subject; . . ."*- 

c. The Election of 1828: Triumph of Jackson: 

Webster to Clay (Oct. 13, 1826). "... We all rejoice 
here [Boston] — I mean all who do not fear that you were born 
to prevent General J[ackson] from being President — in the 
improvement of your health; ..." 

Clay to Johnston (April 2, 1827). "... They tell this 
anecdote of Buchanan [Pa.] ... : he remarked that he ' had 
heard much of changes from Jackson to Adams, but could find 
nobody that had changed.' A member of the legislature. . . . 
replied, 'Yes, Sir, here are eleven members of the Legislature, 
all of whom were friends of Gen. Jackson, and now are the 
friends of Mr. Adams. And I will tell you why— because the 
administration is right, and the opposition have been defeating 
the best measures.' " 

Crazvford (Go.) to Clay (Febr. 4, 1828). "... The truth is, 
I approved of your vote for Mr. Adams, when it was given ; and 
should have voted as you did between Adams and Jackson. 
But candor compels me to say, that I disapproved of your ac- 
cepting an office from him. . . . And it appears 1o me that 
he is destined to fail as his father did, and you must fall with 
him. ..." 

F. Brooke (Va.) to Clay (Febr. 28, 1828). " I have received 
answers . . . from Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe. . . . They de- 
cline to accept the appointment, [as Adams electors in Va.] as 
was apprehended, though with the expression of sentiments, . . . 
rather flattering to the Administration. . . . [Yet] they used 
an expression susceptible of construction more favorable to 
Gen. Jackson than was intended. ..." 

Clay to Brooke (March 24, 1828). "... The general 
aspect of our political news continues good, especially from 
Kentucky and New York. ..." 

Clay to H. Miles (Nov. 25, 1828). "... The inauspicious 

issue of the election has shocked me less than I feared it would. 

. . And yet all my opinions are unchanged and unchangeable, 

about the dangers of the precedent which we have established. 

42. Benton, Abridgment of Debates, VIII, 641-642, 644. 



352 AMERICAN HISTORY 

The military principle has triumphed, and triumphed in the per- 
son of one [Jackson] devoid of all the graces, elegancies, and 
magnanimity of the accomplished men of the profession. Our 
course is a plain one. W'e must peaceahly submit to what we 
have been unable to avert. . . . " *^ 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What was the attitude of parties towards the war of 
1812, and arguments of each? (2) What the feeling of the 
two parties towards each other? (3) What reasons given for 
calling the Hartford Convention? (4) How far were the 
Extreme Federalists ready to go in opposition to war? (5) 
What suggestions did the Hartford Convention make in regard 
to changes in disposal of the revenue and militia? (6) Sum- 
marize the effects of the War of 1812. (7) What the arguments 
of the friends of protection for the system? (8) What the 
chief objections to protection? (9) What benefits expected 
from the establishment of a national bank? (TO) Why did 
Clay change his views in regard to the bank ? (11) Was 
Calhoun a nationalist or not in 1816, judged by his speech on 
internal improvements? (12) On what grounds did INIadison 
and Monroe object to a system of internal improvements? (13) 
Did Congress agree with Madison? (14) What was the Taylor 
amendment? (15) To what territory did the Thomas' amend- 
ment apply? (16) Give the argument of Pinkney against re- 
stricting slavery in Missouri. (17) What doctrine in regard 
to interpretation brought out in debate over Missouri's admis- 
sion? (18) What the leading argument against, what for. the 
Florida treaty? (19) Outline the Monroe Doctrine. (20) 
Over what issue did parties begin to reform in 1825? 

II. (1) What change in point of view of the constitution 
do you see beginning in the South during this period? (2) 
Trace the evolution of the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine. 

(3) How do the questions before the American people during 
this period differ from those dominant in the preceding period ? 

(4) Do these extracts help you to explain the downfall of the 
Federal party? 

III. (1) What was the financial condition of the United 
States during the War of 1812? (2) What conditions in Eu- 
rope aided in bringing out the Monroe Doctrine? (3) How do 
you explain the gradual sectionalization of the country in re- 
gard to protection? (4) How did the old Federal and Republi- 
can parties divide when new parties were formed, 1825-28? 

43. Colton, Private Correspondence Clay, 151, 161, 192, 196, 199, 213. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 353 

Text-Book References.— Adams and Trent, 227-262; Ashley, 
269-298; Channing (revision 1908), 335-373; Hart, 277-315; 
James and Sanford, 259-296; MacDonald's Johnston, 222-270; 
McLaughlin, 282-321; McMaster, 233-240, 259-265, 273-278, 
294-300; Montgomery (revision 1905), 291-335; Thomas (re- 
vision 1903). 215-249. 



SECTION V 

JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY, 1829-1841 

The marked characteristics of this period were the rise 
of the West and the growth of the democratic forces in both 
society and the state. The "people"" demanded and ob- 
tained possession of the government iii all its political de- 
partments. 

The natural results of this democratic uprising were 
expressed (1) in the introduction of "rotation in office," 
which terminated in the " spoils system"; (2) in opposition 
to monopoly in all its manifestations; and (3) in a vigorous 
and aggressive foreign policy. Jackson as the very embodi- 
ment of this new democratic spirit became the leader in the 
movement against the bank, the paper money policy, and. 
as it proved, against nullification. To the old ruUng class 
it seemed as if anarchy itself had been let loose ; and, in fact, 
the mob-spirit was greatly in evidence during these years 
of transition. Reforms were demarlded in regard to hours 
of labor, wages, and imprisonment for debt. "Isms" of all 
kinds were set forth, and socialistic and communistic experi- 
ments were tried out on all sides. 

As a sequence of the Nullification controversy, the ora- 
tory of Webster and the popularity of Jackson, brought the 
full force of this democratic upheaval to the support of the 
national cause and national interpretation of the constitu- 
tion. Democracy and Nationalism were thus allied, and 
later their union enabled the Nation to withstand the sec- 
tionalizing tendency of slavery. 



354 AMERICAN HISTORY 

The rapid growth of the west also brought the land pol- 
icy of the government again into discussion and marked the 
beginning of the doctrine that culminated in the homestead 
policy of a later time. Thus by 1841 this democratic move- 
ment had established itself in possession of the government 
and of society for better or worse, and the future was clearly 
to be the working out of this democratic impulse in every 
phase of the life of the now fully self-conscious nation. 

1. DEMOCRATIC FORMS ESTABLISHED 

a. Jackson recommends popular election of president: 

Inaugural (March 4, 1829). "To the people belongs the 
right of electing their Chief Magistrate; it was never designed 
that their choice should in any case, be defeated, either by the 
intervention of electoral college or by the agency confided, 
under certain contingencies, to the House of Representatives. 
... I would, therefore, recommend such an amendment to the 
Constitution as may remove all intermediate agency in the 
election of the President and Vice-President. ... In connec- 
tion with such an amendment it seems advisable to limit the 
service of the Chief Magistrate to a single term of either four 
or six years." ^ 

b. The National nominating convention established: 

The Anti-Masons (Sept. 11, 1830). "... [A]fter some 
considerable debate, some being opposed to mixing political 
questions with anti-masonry, the following resolution was 
passed. ' Resolved, That it is recommended to the people of the 
United States, opposed to secret societies, to meet in convention 
on . . . the 26th day of September, 1831, at the city of Balti- 
more, by delegates equal in number to their representatives in 
both houses of Congress, to make nomination of suitable can- 
didates for the office of president and vice-president, to be 
supported at the next election ; . . . " - 



1. Richardson, Messages and Papers, II, 447, 448. 

2. Niles, Register, 39, p. 91. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 355 

The National Republicans (Dec. 11, 1831). "Tuesday. The 
chairman took his seat and the roll of members was called — and 
155 delegates answered to their names, from 17 states — the 
delegation from Tenn. not having yet arrived. . . . James 
Barbour, of \''a. was appointed president. . . . After other 
proceedings . . . Mr. Peter R. Livingston, of New York, 
. . . named Henry Clay, of Ky., as a candidate for the presi- 
dency of the United States ; . . . The roll was then called, 
and each member rose in his place, and pronounced his dis- 
tinct approbation of the nomination — there were 155 votes, 
every one for Mr. Clay. The result was received with repeated 
cheers. Wednesday. The committee to notify Mr. Clay of 
his nomination, presented the following letter from him : Gen- 
tlemen — . . .with my respectful and cordial acknowledgments, 
you will be pleased to communicate to the convention my ac- 
ceptance of their nomination, with the assurance that, what- 
ever may be the event of it, our common country shall ever 
find me faithful to the Union, and the constitution, to the prin- 
ciples of public liberty, and to those great measures of national 
policy which have made us a people, prosperous, respected, and 
powerful. . . . Friday. . . . Mr. Everett [Mass.] ... re- 
ported an address to the people of the United States. . . . " •'' 

The Democrats (May 21, 1832). "Address of Mr. Sumner. 
. . . The object of the representatives of the people of New 
Hampshire who called this convention was, not to impose on 
the people, as candidates, . . . any local favorites, but to con- 
centrate the opinions of all the states. . . . They consider the 
individuals who may be selected as candidates for office, to be 
of much less consequence than the principles on which they are 
designated. They thought it important to ascertain the fact, 
whether the people themselves, or those who would frustrate 
the voice of the people, should succeed in our elections. . . . 
[Rules adopted]. Resolved, That each state be entitled . . . 
to a number of votes equal to the number to which they will 
be entitled in the electoral colleges . . . ; and that two thirds 
of the whole number of the votes in the convention shall be 
necessarv to make a choice. . . . Resolved, That the conven- 



3. Niles, Register, 41. pp. 281-282, 301-307. 



356 AMERICAN HISTORY 

lion repose the highest confidence in the purity, patriotism, and 
talents of A. Jackson, and that we most heartily concur in the 
repeated nominations he has received in various parts of the 
Union. ..." 

c The first formal national party platform: 

The Young Men's Xational Republican Conz'cntion (May 
11. 1832). 

"2. Resolved, That an adequate protection to American 
industry is indispensahle to the prosperity of the country; . . . 

3. Resolved, That a uniform system of internal improve- 
ments, sustained and supported by the general government, is 
calculated to secure . . . the harmony, the strength, and the 
permanency of the republic. 

4. Resolved that the Supreme court of the United States 
is the only tribunal recognised by the constitution for deciding, 
in the last resort, all questions arising under the constitution 
and laws of the United States. ... 

7. Resolved, That the indiscriminate removal of public of- 
ficers, for a mere difference of political opinion, is a gross abuse 
of power ; . . . 

10. Resoli'ed, That it is the duty of every citizen of this 
republic ... to promote the election of Henry Clay. . . . " "'* 

2. THE PEOPLE AND " ROTATION IN OFFICE " 

a. The doctrine of " the spoils " asserted: 

Marey's Spoils Doctrine. " It may be, sir, that the politi- 
cians of New York are not so fastidious as some gentlemen 
are, as to disclosing the principles on which they act. They 
boldly preach what they practice. When they are contending 
for victory, they avow their intention to enjoy the fruits of it. 
If they are defeated, they expect to retire from ofiice. If they 
are successful, they claim, as a matter of right, the advantages 
of success. They see nothing wrong in the rule that to the 
victor belongs the spoils of the enemy." '' 



4. Niles, Register, 42. pp. 234-235. 

5. Niles, Register, 42, p. 236. 

6. Niles, Register, 43, p. 8. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 357 

b. The arguments for rotation: 

Mr. Shcplcy (Febr. 14, 1835). "Calhoun's bill proposes to 
repeal the law which limits the terms of certain offices to four 
years; and to require the President, upon the removal of an 
officer, when he nominates a successor, to assign his reasons to 
the Senate for such removal. . . .The practical result, then, 
must be, that the President cannot remove from office until 
misconduct or corruption shall not only be made to appear sat- 
isfactorily to him, but ... to the satisfaction of the Senate 
[also]. . . . And what is to be the effect of the proposed 
change ? In the first place it creates a privileged class in the 
community. . . . The officer who holds during good behavior 
soon acquires a disposition to regard the office as his own prop- 
erty, . . - rather than as a trust merely. . . . The effect will 
be to perpetuate abuses. A man long in office, if he becomes 
skilled in the performance of its duties, becomes also skilled 
in all the means by which he may use it for . . . the accumu- 
lation of unjust gains; ... He becomes wise also in covering 
up, and in keeping secret, abuses which exist; . . . x\ man 
may prove to be a bad public officer from constitutional traits 
of "character. . . . But, sir, I go further, and I will say plainly 
that I hold to ' rotation in office.' ... I can never agree to 
the principle that offices are to be held for life. ... It operates 
against the people; ... It is just, and proper, and useful, 
without regard to party, or party favors, to change public of- 
fices. It is in accordance with out system of Government, which 
holds out equal rights and equal privileges to all." 

Mr. Grundy, Tenn. (Febr. 18). "It is argued that this will 
give more stability to the tenure of office. I am not satisfied 
that this is desirable. I protest against this ownership of office, 
so much insisted on by those opposed to this administration. 
... It is no disparagement to a man's standing or character, 
that another has been found who can perform the duties of the 
office as well as he can, and that others had been appointed in 
his place." '^ 



7. Gales & Seaton. Register, XI, p:. I, 450-454, 531. 



358 AMERICAN HISTORY 

c. The Arguments for permanency of tenure: 

Webster, Mass., (Febr. 16, 1835). "The professed object 
of this bill is the reduction of executive influence and patron- 
age. I concur in the propriety of that object. . . . The ex- 
tent of the patronage springing from this power of appoint- 
ment and removal is so great, that it brings a dangerous mass 
of private and personal interest into operation in all great 
public elections and public questions. . . . The powder of giv- 
ing office thus affects the fears of all who are in, and the hopes 
of all who are out. Those who are out endeavor to distinguish 
themselves ... by clamorous support of men in whose hands 
is the power of reward; while those who are in ordinarily take 
care that others shall not surpass them in such qualities. . . . 
They resolve not to be outdone in any of the works of parti- 
sanship. ... A competition ensues, not of patriotic labors ; 
. . . not of manliness, independence, and public spirit, but 
of complaisance . . . and gross adulation. . . . Blind devo- 
tion to party . . . thus takes place of the sentiment of gen- 
eious patriotism and a high and exalted sense of public duty." * 

3. POPULAR REFORMS 

a. Imprisonment for debt: 

Jackson in first Annnal Message (Dec. 8, 1829). " In con- 
nection with the foregoing views I would suggest also an in- 
quiry whether the provisions of the act of Congress authorizing 
the discharge of the persons of debtors to the government from 
imprisonment may not ... be extended to the release of the 
debt where the debtor is wholly exempt from the imputation of 
fraud." ^ 

Conditions and Lazvs of the Various States. "For any debt 
contracted since the 4 of July last, the laws of New Jersey 
permit no imprisonment." ^^ 

" A most astonishing and revolting fact has just been pre- 
sented to the public . . . respecting the state of imprisonment 
for debt in the city of New York. . . . During the year, 1828, 



8. Works of Webster (ed. 1860), IV, 179-181. 

9. Richardson, Messages and Papers, II, 454. 

10. Niles, Register, 38, 434. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 359 

[the number] was 1085. . . . Probably ... a more monstrous 
or shocking fact cannot be produced — or one more at variance 
with out boasted civilization. . . ."^^ 

"April 9, 1831. The legislature of Mass. has passed a law 
exempting from imprisonment for debt, all debtors for sums 
under ten dollars, and all females for debts of any amount 
contracted after the passage of the law. The law is intended 
as an experiment. . . . ^- 

A bill for abolishing imprisonment for debt has passed the 
house [N. Y.] by a vote of 79 to 24. It is expected to pass the 
senate without serious difficulty." ^- 

b. For suppressing intemperance: 

Origin Movement. " The first public meeting for the sup- 
pression of intemperance was called at Boston [Febr., 1824] 
. . . when . . . they resolved unanimously, — 1st ' That it is 
expedient that more systematic and vigorous efforts be made, 
by the Christian public, to restrain and prevent the intemperate 
use of intoxicating liquors. ... A committee was then ap- 
pointed to prepare a constitution, and the meeting was ad- 
journed to Febr. 13, 1826. At that meeting a constitution was 
. . . adopted ... At the close of the year 1829, there had al- 
ready been formed and reported more than 1,000 societies, em- 
bracing more than 100,000 members : ... In February, 1833, 
a Congressional Temperance Meeting was held at the Capitol 
of Washington, at which Mr. Cass . . . presided. . . . 
Mr. Felix Grundy, senator [Tenn.] continued, ' Let it be seen, 
by the whole American people, that men in high places . . . , 
are the friends, the patrons, the active, zealous, and persevering 
promoters of the cause of temperance. . . . ' " i3 

Eifect (June 18, 1831). "In New Hampshire. According 
to a late report of the New Hampshire temperance society . . . 
the consumption of ardent spirits in that state has been re- 
duced in the proportion of about four-ninths, making an annual 
saving of expenditure in this article of $268,000." ^* 



11. Niles, Register, 38, p. 174. 

12. Niles, Register, 39, pp. 94, 95. 

13. G rund. The Americans, I. parts of 324-341. 

14. Niles, Register, 39, p. 284. 



360 AMERICAN HISTORY 

c. Reform in Money Conditions: 

Revival of the gold currency (Speech by T. H. Benton, 
1834). "In the first place, he was one of those who beHeved 
that the government of the United States was intended to be a 
hard money government . . . ; that the federal currency 
should consist of gold and silver ; and that there is no power 
in Congress to issue, or to authorize any company of individuals 
to issue, any species of federal paper currency whatsoever. 
... In the third place Mr. Benton undertook to affirm . . . 
that the value now set upon gold, by the laws of the United 
States [15 to 1], was unjust and erroneous; that these laws had 
. expelled gold from circulation. . . . The evils of a small 
[note] paper circulation, he considered among the greatest 
grievances that could afflict a community. . . . If a bank stops 
payment, the holders of the small notes, who are usually the 
working part of the community, are . . . the first to suffer. 
. . . As the expeller of hard money, small notes were the bane 
and curse of a country. . . . To increase the quantity of hard 
money in the United States . . . the bank note circulation 
below twenty dollars, ought to be suppressed. ..." ^■' 

d. In Means of Transportation: 

Canals and Railroads. "A great meeting took place in Bos- 
ton on the 31st ult. [1830] to adopt measures preparatory to a 
subscription to the stock in the ' Franklin railroad company.' 
. . . Many spirited resolutions were adopted . . . ; railroads 
appear to claim almost exclusive attention as means of com- 
munication between distant points, and repeated experiments 
have proven that transportation can in this way be reduced to 
the lowest possible rates. . . ." '^^ (Jan. 8, 1831). "The 
Baltimore and Ohio rail road company has issued proposals 
for a supply of locomotive steam engines of American manu- 
facture, to be delivered for trial on or before the 1st June, next. 
They must burn coal or coke, — consume their own smoke — not 
weigh, when in operation, more than 3yi tons, and, on a level 
road, draw 15 tons 15 miles an hour." (Jan. 8, 1831). "The 
Morris Canal ... is in operation for the space of fifty miles 



15. Benton, Thirty Years' View, I, 436-457. 

16. Niles, Register, 38, p. 174. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 361 

to Newark, N. J. . . . This has had the effect already to 
reduce the carriage of iron, made at works adjacent to the 
canal, from five dollars a ton to 50 cents." ^' 

e. Management of the Public Lands: 

Suggestion of limiting the Sale. Senator Foot (Conn.), 
Dec, 1829, " submitted to the Senate a resolution of inquiry 
which excited much feeling among the western members of 
that body. It was a proposition to enquire into the expedienc) 
of limiting the sales of public lands to those then in market — 
to suspend the surveys of public lands — and to abolish the oflfice 
of Surveyor General. Mr. Benton (Mo.) said, These are the 
practical effects of the resolution. Emigration to the new 
States checked ; then settlement limited ; . . . The signs are 
portentious ; it is time for the new States to wake up to their 
danger, and to prepare for a struggle which carries ruin and 
disgrace to them, if the issue is against them." ^^ 

Struggle over management of the public lands. " Benton 
[1832] says: 'The efforts which had been making for years to 
ameliorate the public land system in the feature of their sale 
and disposition, had begun to have their effect — the effect which 
always attends perseverence in a just cause. A bill had ripened 
to a third reading in the Senate reducing the price of lands 
which had been long in market to less than one half — to fifty 
cents per acre — and the pre-emption principle had been firmly 
c.-tablished, securing the settler in his home at a fixed price. 
Two other principles, those of donations to actual settlers . . . 
were all that was wanting. . . . Clay reported that upon full 
and thorough consideration, the Committee [on Manufactures] 
have come to the conclusion that it is inexpedient either to 
reduce the price of the public lands or to cede them to the new 
states. . . . The inquiry remains, what ought to be the specific 
application of the fund [derived from the sale of public land] 
under the restriction stated. . . . But a majority of the com- 
mittee believes it better . . . that [it] be divided among the 
twenty four States . . . to be applied to education, internal im- 
provements, or colonization, or to the redemption of any exist- 



17. Niles. Register, 39, p. 329. 

18. T. H. Benton, Thirty Years' View, I, 130-131. 



362 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ing debt, . . . [so] they beg leave to report a bill, entitled 
' An act to appropriate, for a limited time, the proceeds of the 
sales of the public lands of the United States." ^^ 

Jackson's Veto of Clay's land hill (Dec, 1833). "However 
willing I might be that any unavoidable surplus in the Treas- 
ury should be returned to the people through their State gov- 
ernments, I can not assent to the principle that a surplus may 
be created for the purpose of distribution. Viewing this bill as 
in effect assuming the right not only to create a surplus for that 
purpose, but to divide the contents of the Treasury among the 
States without limitation, ... I can not give it my assent. 
... I deceive myself greatly if the new States would find 
their interests promoted by such a system as this bill proposes. 
Their true policy consists in the rapid settling and improvement 
of the lands within their limits. . . . I do not doubt that it is 
the real interest of each and all the States in the Union, and 
particularly of the new States, that the price of their lands shall 
be reduced and graduated, and that after they have been of- 
fered for a certain number of years the refuse remaining un- 
sold shall be abandoned to the States. . . . " '^^ 

Calhoun would cede to States (Jan. 3, 1840). "Mr. Cal- 
houn, Agreeably to notice on Tuesday last, asked leave to in- 
troduce a bill to cede the public lands to the States in which 
they are respectively situated. . . . Mr. Clay went on to ob- 
serve that as the committee [on public lands] was constituted, 
four of its five members were from new States. He meant to 
offer no disrespect to them ; but he must say, that this was a 
measure which, . . . was, in effect, a donation of upwards of one 
hundred millions of acres of the common property of all the 
states of this Union to particular States." ^^ 

Pre-emption establhhed by law (Dec. 14, 1840). "Mr. 
Benton [Mo.] rose to ask leave to bring in a bill for the estab- 
lishment of a permanent prospective pre-emption law in favor 
of settlers on the public lands, . . . Mr. Clay (Ala.) Jan. 4, 
1841, said money is the smallest, and about the last considera- 
tion, that should enter into, or influence our policy in the man- 



19. T. H. Benton, Thirty Years' View, I, 275, 276. 

20. Richardson, Messages and Papers, III, 67-68. 

21. D. M-allory, Life and Speeches of Clay, II, 384. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 363 

agement of the public domain. . . . Occupancy, cultivation, 
and improvement of the resources of the country, were the 
considerations. . . . But by this law the poor man of the old 
States had it placed within his power, if industrious and enter- 
prising to go forward to the new States, with a guarantee held 
out to him of a title to his land on the payment to the govern- 
ment of $1.25 per acre. Sevier (Ark.), Jan. 14. The friends 
of this bill support it with a view of protecting the labor of the 
poor man against wealthy land speculators. . . . One of the 
main reasons, though not avowed, for opposing the pre-emption 
bill, is to prevent the emigration to and the settlement and im- 
provement of the new states. 

Mr. White [Tenn.], Jan. 19. Senators object to the pre- 
emption policy mainly upon these grounds : 

(1) That it injures our exchequer. . . . 

(2) That, by confirming privileges and bounties upon the 
people of the new States, it is partial in its operation, and 
unjust to the people of the old States. 

(3) That it .produces an unnatural and forced drain upon 
the population of the old States, and 

(4) That it engenders a spirit of insubordination to the 
laws. . . . Bill passed. Febr. 2, 1841. Ayes 31, noes 19." '^' 



4. DEMOCRACY AND THE BANK, 1829-1837 

a. The recharter of the bank: 

Jackson questions its constitutionality and expediency (Dec, 
1829). "The charter of the Bank of the United States expires 
in 1836. ... In order to avoid the evils resulting from 
precipitancy . . . , I feel that I cannot, in justice to the parties 
interested, too soon present it to the deliberate consideration of 
the Legislature and the people. Both the constitutionality and 
the expediency of the law creating this bank are well ques- 
tioned by a large portion of our fellow-citizens, and it must be 
admitted by all that it has failed in the great end of establishing 
a uniform and sound currencv." 



22. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XIV, 156, 176, 224. 



364 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Dec, 1831. " Entertaining the opinions heretofore expressed 
in relation to the Bank of the United States as at present or- 
ganized, I felt it my duty in my former messages frankly to 
disclose them. . . . Having thus conscientiously discharged a 
constitutional duty, I deem it proper on this occasion ... to 
leave it for the present to the investigations of an enlightened 
people and their representatives." -^ 

Webster supports the bank (May 25, 1832). "The influence 
of the bank . . . may be considered in several points of view. 
It may be regarded as it affects the currency of the country; 
as it affects the collection and disbursement of the public reve- 
nue ; as it respects foreign exchange ; as it respects domestic 
exchange ; and as it affects . . . the agriculture, commerce, and 
manufactures of the Union. ... I am of opinion, Sir, that a 
well-conducted national bank has an exceedingly useful and 
effective operation on the general paper circulation of the coun- 
try. . . . The next point ... is the great advantage of the 
bank in the operation of the Treasury ; . . . How is the revenue 
to be collected through all the custom-houses, the land-offices, 
and the post-offices, without some such means as the bank af- 
fords." -* 

Jackson vetoes the Recharter Bill (July 10, 1832). "A 
bank of the United States is in many respects convenient for 
the Government and useful to the people. . . . The present 
corporate bodv . . . enjoys an exclusive privilege of banking 
under the authority of the General Government, a monopoly of 
its favor and support, . . . 

Every monopoly and all exclusive privileges are granted at 
the expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair equiv- 
alent. ... In the bearing of the act before me upon these 
points I find ample reasons why it should not become a law. 
. . . The modifications of the existing charter proposed by 
this act are not such, in my view, as make it consistent with 
the rights of the States or the liberties of the people. . . . 

It is maintained by the advocates of the bank that its con- 



23. Richardson, Messages and Papers, II, 462, 558. 

24, Webster's Works (ed. 1860), III. 394, 397. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 365 

stitutionality in all its features ought to be considered as settled 
by precedent and by the decision of the Supreme Court. To 
this conclusion I cannot assent. Mere precedent is a dangerous 
source of authority, and should not be regarded as deciding 
questions of constitutional power except where the acquiescence 
of the people and the States can be considered as well settled. 
So far as this being the case on this subject, an argument 
against the bank might be based on precedent. One Congress, 
in 1791. decided in favor of a bank; another, in 1811, decided 
against it. . . . 

If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole 
ground of this act, it ought not to control the coordinate au- 
thorities of this Government. The Congress, the Executive, 
and the Court must each for itself be guided by its own opinion 
of the Constitution. . . . The opinion of the judges has no 
more authority over Congress than the opinion of Congress has 
over the judges, and on that point the President is independent 
of both. . . . 

Suspicions are entertained and charges are made of gross 
abuse and violation of the charter. . . . 

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often 
l)end the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Di.^- 
tinctions in society will always exist under every just govern- 
ment. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth cannot 
be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of 
the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy 
and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law ; 
hut when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just 
advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and 
exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more 
powerful, the humble members of society — the farmers, me- 
chanics, and laborers — who have neither the time nor the means 
of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain 
of the injustice of their government. . . ." -^ 

Webster criticises the Veto (July 11, 1.S32). [Jackson's] 
"objections go against the whole substance of the law originally 
creating the bank. Thev denv. in effect, that the bank is con- 



25. Richardson, Messages and Papers. II, 576, 577, 578, 581, 582. 



366 AMERICAN HISTORY 

slilutional ; they deny that it is expedient ; they deny that it is 
necessary for the public service. I hesitate not to say, that, as 
this veto travels to the West, it will depreciate the value of every 
man's property from the Atlantic States to the Capital of INIis- 
souri. Its effects will be felt in the price of lands, ... in the 
price of crops, in the products of labor, in the repression of en- 
terprise, and in embarrassment to every kind of business and 
occupation. ... A great majority of the people are satisfied 
with the bank as it is, and desirous that it should be continued. 
. . . But the President has undertaken, on his own responsi- 
bility, to arrest the measure, by refusing his assent to the bill. 
He is answerable for the consequences. . . . 

I now proceed. Sir, to a few remarks upon the President's 
constitutional objections to the bank : . . . He denies that the 
constitutionality of the bank is a settled question. . . . The 
question of the power of Congress to create such institutions 
has been contested in every manner known to our Constitution 
and laws. ... It has been discussed over and over again, in 
Congress; it has been argued and solemnly adjudged in the 
Supreme Court ; every President, except the present, has con- 
sidered it a settled question. . . . but it [the message] adds 
that another Congress, in 1811, decided against it. Now, if he 
meant that, in 1811, Congress decided against the bank on con- 
stitutional grounds, then the assertion is wholly incorrect and 
against notorious fact. . . . Hitherto it has been thought, that 
the final decision of constitutional questions belonged to the 
supreme judicial tribunal. . . . The President is as much 
bound by the law as any private citizen. . . . He may refuse 
to obey the law, and so may a private citizen ; but both do it 
at their peril ; . . . The President may say a law is unconsti- 
tutional, but he is not the judge. . . . The judiciary alone 
possesses this unquestionable, and hitherto unquestioned right. 
. . . When the message denies, as it does, the authority of the 
Supreme Court to decide on constitutional questions, it effects, 
so far as the opinion of the President and his authority can ef- 
fect it a complete change in our government. . . . Mr. Presi- 
dent, we have arrived at a new epoch. . . . This message 
calls us to the contemplation of a future which little resembles 
the past. ... It manifestly seeks to inflame the poor against 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 367 

the rich ; . . . It is a state paper which finds no topic too 
exciting for its use, no passion too inflamable for its address. 
Such is the message. It remains now for the people of the 
United States to choose between the principles here avowed 
and their government. These cannot subsist together. The 
one or the other must be rejected." -^ 

h. Removal of the Government Deposits: 

Resolution of House (Mar. 2, 1832). "Resolved, That the 
Government deposits may, in the opinion of the House, be safely 
continued in the Bank of the United States. Yeas 109. Nays, 
46." " 

Conversation of Jf. B. Lezvis zvitli President Jackson (Sept., 
1833). "i[The conversation was renewed by my asking him] 
' what object was to be attained by a removal of the deposits 
from the bank at that time ' ? 'To prevent it from being re- 
chartered,' was the reply. * But,' said I, ' cannot that object be 
as certainly attained, as well without as with the removal of 
them ' ? ' No, sir,' said he, ' if the bank is permitted to have 
the public money there is no power that can prevent it from 
obtaining a charter — it will have it if it has to buy up all 
Congress,' ..." 

Diiane's Narrative. " I know that four of the six mem- 
bers of the last cabinet, and four of the members of the present 
cabinet opposed the removal of the deposits, and yet their ex- 
ertions were nullified by individuals, whose intercourse with 
the President was clandestine." -^ 

Jackson's Paper Read to the Cabinet (Sept. 18, 1833). 
" Having carefully considered all the facts and arguments . . . 
relative to a removal of the public deposits from the bank of the 
United States, the President, in conclusion, must be permitted to 
remark that he looks upon the pending question as of higher con- 
sideration than the mere transfer of a sum of money from one 
bank to another. Its decision may affect the character of our Gov- 



26. Works of Webster (ed. 1860), III, 416, 419, 420, 429. 430, 432-433. 
446-447. 

27. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XII, 191. 

28. Parton, Life of Jackson, III, 506, 513-514. 



368 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ernment for ages to come. Should the bank be suffered longer 
to use the pubHc moneys in the accompHshment of its purposes, 
with the proofs of its faithlessness and corruption before our 
eyes, the patriotic among our citizens will despair of success 
in struggling against its power, and we shall be responsible 
for entailing it upon our country forever. . . . The President 
again repeats that he begs his Cabinet to consider the proposed 
measure as his own, in the support of which he shall require 
no one of them to make a sacrifice of opinion or principle. Its 
responsibility has been assumed . . .as necessary to pre- 
serve the morals of the people, the freedom of the press, and 
the purity of the elective franchise. . . . " -^ 

c. Senate censures Jackson; censure expunged: 

Senate requests Paper read to Cabinet (Dec. 11, 1833). 
'■ Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested 
to inform the Senate whether a paper . . . relating to the 
deposits of the public money in the Treasury [bank] of the 
United States ... be genuine or not ; and if it be genuine, 
that he also be requested to cause a copy of the said paper to 
be laid before the Senate." 

Jackson refuses request (Dec. 12, 1833). Knowing the 
constitutional rights of the Senate, I shall be the la.st man un- 
der any circumstances to interfere with them. Knowing those 
of the executive, I shall at all times, endeavour to maintain 
them, ... I am constrained, therefore, by a proper sense of 
my own self-respect, and of the rights secured by the constitu- 
tion to the executive branch of the Government, to declare a 
compliance with your request." 

Clay's Resolutions of Censure (Dec. 26, 1833). "Resolved. 
That, by dismissing the late Secretary of the Treasury because 
he would not, contrary to his sense of his own duty, remove the 
money of the United States in deposit with the Bank of the 
United States . . . , in conformity with the President's opin- 
ion ; and by appointing his successor to effect such removal, 
which has been done, the President has assumed the exercise 
of a power over the Treasury of the United States, not granted 



29. Richardson, Messages and Papers. Ill, 5, 1819, 



MAKIXCi OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 369 

to hiiu by the Constitution and the laws, and dangerous to the 
Hberties of the people." 

Clay's modified resolution (Mar. 28, 1834). "Resolved, 
That the President, in the late executive proceedings in rela- 
tion to the public revenue, has assumed upon himself authority 
and pov\/-er not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in 
derogation of both. [Adopted, yeas 26, nays 20J." 

Message of Protest frotii the President (Apr. 17). "... 
The resolution of the Senate is wholly unauthorized by the 
Constitution, and in derogation of its entire spirit. . . . The 
resolution, then, was in substance an impeachment of the Presi- 
dent; and in its passage amounts to a declaration, by a majority 
of the Senate, that he is guilty of an impeachable offence 
. . . ; but in no part of this proceeding have the directions 
of the constitution been observed. The constitutional mode of 
procedure on an impeachment has not only been wholly dis- 
regarded, but some of the first principles of natural right and 
enlightened jurisprudence, have been violated in the very form 
of the resolution. ... It carefully abstains from specifying 
what laws or what part of the Constitution have been violated." 

Resolution of Censure expunged (Jan. 16, 1837). "Re- 
solved, That the said resolve be expunged from the journal; 
and, for that purpose, that the Secretary of the Senate . . . 
shall . . . write across the face thereof. . . . the following 
words: 'Expunged by order of the Senate, this 16th day of 
[anuary, in the year of our Lord 1837.' [ayes 24, noes 19]." 3*' 

5. NATIONALITY SUSTAINED AGAINST NULLIFICATION 
a. Occasion for Nullification: 

South Carolina legislative declaration — drafted by Calhoun 
(1828). "The constitution grants to Congress the power of 
imposing a duty on imports for revenue, which power is abused 
bv being converted into an instrument of rearing up the in- 
dustry of one section of the country on the ruins of another. 
... To prove, then, that the burden of the Tariff falls also 
on them (the Southern States) almost exclusively, it is only 



30. T. H. Benton. Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XII, 205, 207, 208, 
308, 318, 362; XIII, 156. 



370 AMERICAN HISTORY 

necessary to show that, as far as their interest is concerned, 
there is Httle or no difference between an export and an import 
duty. We export to import. The object is to exchange the 
fruits of our labor for those of other countries. ... A duty, 
whether it be on the exports or imports, must fall on this ex- 
change ; and, however laid, must, in reality be paid by the 
producer of the articles exchanged. . . ."^^ 

Governor Hamilton's Message (Oct. 22, 1832). ''Operating 
thus heavily on the exchangeable value of our products the 
act [tariff law 1832] provides for nothing short of the mon- 
strous injustice of levying, at least three-fourths of the whole 
amount of the federal revenue on the industry of the Southern 
States. . . . Repugnant as this act is to every principle of 
justice, we cannot indulge even the humiliating consolation that 
... it will be temporary in its duration and will at last yield 
to the returning sense of justice so long promised, and whose 
advent has been so long . . . postponed. . . ."^- 

b. Theory of nullification: 

Address to the People of the United States by South Caro- 
lina Convention (Nov., 1832). "We, then, hold it as unques- 
tionable, that, on the separation from the Crown of Great Brit- 
ain, the people of the colonies became free and independent 
States, possessed of the full right of self-government; . . . 
We also held it as equally unquestionable, that the Constitution 
of the United States is a compact between the people of the 
several States, constituting free,, independent, and sovereign 
communities; . . ."'^^ 

Calhoun's letter to General Hamilton (Aug. 28, 1832). " In- 
deed, according to our theory, governments are in their nature 
trusts, and those appointed to administer them, trustees or 
agents to execute the trust powers. The sovereignty resides 
elsewhere — in the people, not in the government ; and with us 
the people mean the people of the several States originally 
formed into thirteen distinct and independent Communities, and 
now into twenty-four. Politically speaking, in reference to our 



31. Cralle, Reports and Public Letters of J. C. Calhoun, VI, 3, 6. 

32. Niles, Register, 43, p. 174. 

33. Cralle, Reports and Public Letters of J. C. Calhoun, VI, 194. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 371 

system, there are no other people. The General Government, 
as well as those of the States, is but the organ of their power; 
. . . The General Government is a case of joint agency — the 
joint agent of the twenty-four sovereign States. . . . Are 
they [Secession and nullification] the same? on the decision 
of which depends the question whether it [nullification] be a 
peaceable and constitutional remedy that may be exercised with- 
out terminating the federal relations of the State or not. . . . 
First, they are wholly dissimilar in their nature. One has ref- 
erence to the parties themselves, and the other to their agents. 
Secession is a withdrawal from the Union; a separation from 
partners; . . . Nullification, on the contrary, presupposes the 
relation of principal and agent. . . . and is simply a declara- 
tion on the part of the principal, made in due form, that an 
act of the agent transcending his pozver is null and void. . . . 
Nullification leaves the members of the association or union 
in the condition it found them — subject to all its burdens, and 
entitled to all its advantages, comprehending the member nul- 
lifying as well as the others — its object being not to destroy, 
but to preserve, as has been stated. . . . [S]ecession, on the 
contrary, destroys . . . the association or union, . . ." ^* 

c. Act of NiilIiBcation: 

The legislature calls a convention (Oct. 26, 1832). "Where- 
as, the congress of the United States hath on divers occasions 
enacted laws laying duties and imposts for the purpose of en- 
couraging and protecting domestic or American manufactures, 
. . . Be it therefore enacted, by the senate and house . . . , 
That delegates of the people of the said State shall be assem- 
bled in convention at Columbia, on the third Monday in Nov. 
next ... to take into consideration the se\eral acts . . , 
imposing duties . . . [Other sections provide for election 
delegates, powers.]." ^'' 

Ordinance of NulMcation (Nov. 24, 1832). '"And, where- 
as, the said Congress [of the United States], exceeding its just 
power to impose taxes, . . . 



34. Cralle, Reports and Public Letters of J. C. Calhoun, \'I, 151, 15J, 
167, 168, 170. 

35. Niles, Register, 43, p. 152. 



372 AMERICAN HISTORY 

(2) We, therefore, the people of the state of South Caro- 
lina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, . . . that 
the several acts and parts of acts . . . purporting to be laws 
for the imposing of duties . . . are null, void, and no 
law, not binding upon this State, its officers or citizens ; . . . 

(3) And it is further ordained, That it shall not be lawful 
for any of the constituted authorities, whether of this State or 
Of the United States, to enforce the payment of duties imposed 
by the said acts, within the limits of this State ; . . . 

(5) A>id it is fitrtlicr ordained. That all persons now hold- 
ing any office of honor, profit, or trust, civil or military, under 
this State, shall, . . . take an oath, well and truly to obey, 
execute, and enforce this ordinance. . . . 

6. And we, the people of South Carolina . . . , do further 
declare, that we will not submit to the application of force, on 
the part of the federal government, to reduce this State to obe- 
dience ; . . . [and any attempt] to enforce the acts hereby 
declared to be null and void, otherwise than through the civil 
tribunals of the country, [will be regarded] as inconsistent with 
the longer continuance of South Carolina in the Union; . . . " ^^ 

d. Proclamation against Nullification: 

President Jackson issues liis greatest State Paper (Dec. 10, 
1832). "I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the 
United States, assumed by one State, incompatible ivitJi the 
existence of the Union, co'ntradicted expressly by the letter of 
the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent zcifh 
every principle on zcliich it teas founded, and destructive of the 
great object for which it z(.'as formed. . . . The next objection 
is that the laws operate unequally. This objection may be made 
with truth to every law that has been or can be passed. . . . 
If the unequal operation of a law makes it unconstitutional, 
. . . then, indeed, is the constitution unworthy of the slight- 
est effort for its preservation. . . . The Constitution of the 
United States, then, forms a government, not a league; and 
whether it be formed by compact between the States or in any 
other manner, its character is the same. . . . The States sev- 



36. Niles, Register, 43, pp. 219-220. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 373 

erally have not retained their entire sovereignty. . . . The laws of 
the United States must be executed. . . .Those who told you 
that you might peaceably prevent their execution deceived you ; 
they could not have been deceived themselves. . . . Their ob- 
ject is disunion. But be not deceived by names. Disunion by 
armed force is treason. . . . It is yet in your power to disap- 
point them. There is yet time to show that the descendants 
of the Pinckneys, the Rutledges, the Sumpters, and the thou- 
sand other names which adorn the pages of your Revolutionary 
history will not abandon that Union to support which so many 
of them fought, and bled and died. . . . Fellow-citizens the 
momentous case is before you. On your undivided support of 
your government depends the decision of the great question it 
involves — whether your sacred Union will be preserved and the 
blessing it secures to us as one people shall be perpetu- 
ated. . . ." ^' 

e. Public Reception of Nullification: 

Greem'ille {S. C.) Rcsolutio)is. "Rcsolz'cd, That we never 
can be induced to raise a parricidal arm against the Union of 
these States. . . . Resolved, That we are ready and willing to 
defend these our opinions and sentiments with our lives, our 
fortunes, and our sacred honor. . . . 

It is calculated that three-fifths of the people of South Car- 
olina are for the nullifiers, but not all for secession: and about 
two-fifths for the Union party."''* 

The Charleston Mercury (Dec. 19. 1832). "We must ex- 
pect too that Congress will be against us ; the votes of the 
Southern Delegation will be thrown into the scale against 
us, and southern voices will be mingled with the ferocious howl 
of vengeance with which it will be essayed to overwhelm us and 
to frighten us from the proud position we have taken upon the 
battlements of State Sovereignty." ^^ 

South Carolina Union Convention. " Remonstrance and pro- 
test of the Union and States Rights party . . . against the 
ordinance [of nullification]. . . . 

6th. Because the ordinance has directlv violated the Con- 



37. Richardson. Messages and Papers, II, 640-656. 



374 AMERICAN HISTORY 

stitution of the United States, which gives authority to Con- 
gress to collect revenue, in forbidding the collection of any 
revenue within the limits of South Carolina. . . . 

9th. Because it virtually destroyed the Union by prevent- 
ing the general government from enforcing these laws through 
the civil tribunals of the country. . . . " ^° 

From the Knoxville (Tciin.) Republican. "... Not a few 
individuals in this section of the country, a short time since, 
were advocating the South Carolina doctrine. But nozv, scarce- 
ly a solitary nullifier can be found, . . . and if the Proclama- 
tion has caused as great a revolution in the minds of the nuUi- 
fiers in every other section of the United States, ... no dan- 
ger need be apprehended from nullification.'' 

Legislature of Pcnn. " In the opinion of your committee, 
the constitutional opinions advanced by the president in his 
proclamation are such as must be entertained by every patriot. 
. . . That the people of Penn. will sustain him ... in all 
constitutional measures, whether moral or physical, to enforce 
his determination ' ihat the Union must be preserved,' no one 
acquainted with their patriotism and intelligence can doubt." *^ 

f. Debate in Congress over "Revenue Collection Bill'': 

/. Tyler (Va.) Opposes the Bill (Feb. 5, 1833). "I object 
to the first section because it confers on the President the power 
of closing old ports of entry and establishing new ones. It has 
been said . . . that this was a prominent cause which led to 
the revolution. The Boston port bill . . . first roused the peo- 
ple to resistance. . . . Again, ' all duties, imposts and excises 
shall be uniform . . . ' ; and yet this section invests the 
President with authority to exact cash duties at one place, 
while the credit system prevails at another. ... I regret that 
the course adopted has not been better calculated to avoid a 
rupture. . . . An army . had been sent thither, instead of a 
messenger of peace ; . . ; an armed ship riding in her roadstead, 
and a proclamation issued breathing denunciation. . . . Yes, 
sir, 'the Federal Union must be preserved.' But how? Will 
you seek to preserve it by force ? . . . " 



38, 39, 40, 41. Niles, Register, 43, pp. 266-267, 287, 319, 333. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 375 

Webster supports the measure (Febr. 8, 1833). " I take 
th,s occasion to say that I support this "leasure as an mde- 
pendent member of the Senate, in the discharge of the dictates 
of my own conscience. ... I believe the country is in con- 
siderable danger; I believe an unlawful combination threa ens 
the integrity of the Union. I believe the crisis calls or a mild, 
empera?e, forbearing, but inflexibly firm execution of the aws. 
And under this conviction, I give a hearty support to the ad- 
nnni;tration, m all measures which I deem to be fair, just, and 
necessary. . . • ■*" 

g The Compromise Tariff of 1833: 

' Clay presents Ins measure (Febr. 12, 1833) "I yesterday 
gave notice that I should ask leave to introduce a bill to modify 
the various acts imposing duties on imports. ■ ■ ■ ^ ^"^^ ^"^- 
ious to find out some principle of mutual accommodation to 
satisfy, as far as practicable, both parties • , and at some 

distant day-but not too distant, ... to bring down the rate 
ot- duties to that revenue standard, for which our opponents 
have so long contended. ... I propose to give protection to 
our manufactured articles, adequate protection for a length of 
lime [Febr 25] ... I want to be perfectly understood 

as to ihe motives which have prompted me to offer this meas- 
ue I repeat . . . that they are, first, to preserve the manu- 
facturing interest, and, secondly, to quiet the country. . . • 
This or some other measure of conciliation, is now more than 
ever necessary, since the passage, through the Senate, ot the 
enforcing bill. It appears to me . . • that we ought not o 
content ourselves with passing the enforcing bill only. Both 
that and the bill of peace (compromise tariff) seems to be re- 
quired for the good of our country. The first ^^';\^^^\^'' 
who love order and law, and disapprove the inadmissible doc- 
trine of nullification. The last will soothe those who love peace 
and concord, harmony and union. One demonstrates the power 
and the disposition to vindicate the authority and supremacy of 
the laws of the Union rthe other offers that, which, if it be ac- 



42. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XII, 65, 67, 



73. 



376 AMERICAN HISTORY 

cepted in the fraternal spirit in which it is tendered, will super- 
cede the necessity of the employment of all force." *^ 

6. FOREIGN RELATIONS; AGGRESSIVE POLICY 
a. French Treaty on American Claims: 

Jackson's Message (Dec. 1, 1834). "The history of the 
accumulated and unprovoked aggressions upon our commerce 
committed by authority of the existing governments of France 
[1800-1817] has been rendered too painfully familiar to Ameri- 
cans. . . . After the most deliberate . . . examination of the whole 
subject a treaty between the two governments was . . . signed 
. . . 4th of July, 1831, by which it was stipulated that ' The 
French Government, . . . engages to pay a sum of 25,000,000 
francs to the United States ... in six annual installments.' 
. . . This treaty was duly ratified in the manner prescribed by 
the constitutions of both countries, ... I regret to say that 
the pledges made through the minister of France have not been 
redeemed. ... It is my conviction that the United States 
ought to insist on a prompt execution of the treaty, and in case 
it be refused or longer delayed take redress into their own 
hands." 

Message, Dec. 7, 1835. "... but the payment [by France 
of the indemnity] is, I regret to inform you [Congress], still 
withheld. . . . The then French ministry took exception to 
the message [in part quoted above] on the ground of its con- 
taining a menace under which it was not agreeable to the 
French Government to negotiate. . . . The measures resorted 
to by them to evince their sense of the supposed indignity were 
the immediate recall of their minister at Washington, the offer 
of passports to the American minister at Paris, and a public 
notice to the [French] legislative Chambers that all diplomatic 
intercourse with the United States had been suspended. . . . 
The conception that it was my intention to menace or insult 
the Government of France is as unfounded as the attempt to 
extort from the fears of that nation what her sense of justice 
may deny would be vain and ridiculous. But the Constitution 
. . . imposes on the President the duty of laying before Con- 
gress the condition of the country in its foreign and domestic 



43. D. Mallory, Life and Speeches of Clay, II, 106, 107. 126, 136. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 7>71 

relations. . . . From the performance of this duty he cannot be 
deterred by the fear of wounding the sensibilities of the people 
or government of whom it may become necessary to speak ; 
. . . [Our minister explained that] we could never admit a 
right in any foreign government to ask explanations of or to 
interfere in any manner in the communications which one 
branch of our public councils made with another ; . . . The 
honor of my country shall never be stained by an apology from 
me for the statement of truth and the performance of duty ; 
nor can I give any explanation of my official acts except such 
as are due to int^rity and justice. . . .'"'*'* 

Calhoun criticises the President (1836). "I fear that the 
condition in which the country is now placed has been the 
result of a deliberate and systematic policy. ... I will not 
assert that the Executive has deliberately aimed at war from 
the commencement ; but I will say that, from the beginning of 
the controversy to the present moment, the course which the 
President has pursued is precisely the one calculated to termi- 
nate in a conflict between the two nations. It has been in his 
power, at every period, to give the controversy a direction by 
which the peace of the country might be preserved, without 
the least sacrifice of reputation or honor ; . . . Mr. Benton 
(Mo.) maintained that it was the conduct of the Senate at 
the last session which had given the French question its pres- 
ent and hostile aspect; . . ." *° 

b. Great Britain offers her good services: 

British Offer (Message of Jackson, Jan. 27, 1836). "In 
this state of things the British Government is led to think that 
the good offices of a third power, equally the friend of France 
and of the United States, . . . might be useful in restoring a 
good understanding between the two parties on a footing con- 
sistent with the nicest feelings of national honor in both." 

American Acceptance (Message of Jackson, Dec. 5, 1836). 
"With France our diplomatic relations have been resumed [in 
a friendly spirit]." *^ 



44. Richardson. Messages and Papers. III. 100106. 140. 152-160. 

45. Benton, Thirty Years View, I, 591. 

46. Richardson, Messages and Papers, III, 218236. 



378 AMERICAN HISTORY 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What was the Democratic position in regard to per- 
manency of office-holding? (2) When the first national nomi- 
nating convention, and first platform? (3) What their sig- 
nificance ? (4) What custom established in Democratic con- 
vention in regard to nomination of president? (5) For what 
principles did the National Republicans stand? (6) Give rea- 
sons for Jackson's opposition to the bank. (7) What argu- 
ments were made and by whom for the bank? (8) What ac- 
tion taken by the Senate regarding the removal of Duane and 
the "'deposits"? (9) What was Jackson's Protest? (10) What 
was the occasion of Nullification? (11) Give the interpreta- 
tion of South Carolina of the Constitution. (12) Were the peo- 
ple of South Carolina a unit for Nullification? (13) What 
difference did Calhoun make between Secession and Nullifi- 
cation? (14) What was Jackson's "Proclamation"? (15) 
What changes and why, about 1830, in regard to management 
of the public lands, proposed? (16) W'hat two objections did 
Benton make to the money system of the country? (17) What 
new system of transportation introduced during Jackson's ad- 
ministration and its effects? (18) What arguments for, and 
what against "rotation in office"? (19) What two great re- 
formatory measures introduced during this period? (20) Was 
Jackson's foreign policy vigorous or weak ? 

II. (1) Write a brief history of the Bank struggle. (2) 
Who were the great contestants in the Nullification struggle, 
and the position and strength of arguments of each? (3) Out- 
line, taking into view all the extracts, the political principles 
of the Democrats and the National Republicans. (4) Were the 
arguments for or against the principle of rotation in office the 
stronger ? 

III. (1) Make a study of Jackson to see how his personality 
affected his administration. (2) Was Jackson's administration 
successful or not in its foreign relations? (3) How do you 
explain the general spirit of lawlessness and mobs that pre- 
vailed about 1833-1837? (4) Shall we, on the whole, condemn 
or approve Jackson's administration ? 

Text-Book References. — Adams and Trent, 271-295; Ashley, 
298-315; Channing, 390-411; Hart, 316-323, 329-336; James and 
Sanford, 305-324; MacDonald's Johnston, 285-300; McLaugh- 
lin, 323-334, 339-348; McMaster, 301-315; Montgomery, 2>2>6- 
346, 349-355, 356-364; Thomas, 250-258, 270-275. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 379 



SECTION VI 

INDUSTRIAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS 
ABOUT 1840 

By 1840 the American people had taken possession of 
the national as well as of the local government. The "well- 
born" who had controlled its political and social destinies 
in its earlier years had given way, in a large measure, to 
the west and the newer democracy. It is therefore fitting 
that we should pause and take stock, to see if we can get 
an idea of this new people who were thus undertaking to 
control and guide their own destinies. Very few attempts 
were made at the time by this new American people to 
describe itself, to attempt even to define its beliefs and its 
aims. It was confident of itself, and keen to resent criti- 
cism, but not yet ready, or, perhaps, able even to describe 
the motive forces at work. In this dilemma, it has been 
necessary to turn to foreign travellers to find the material 
to let us see ourselves. Fortunately a number of able men 
and women, most of them fair-minded as well, have left 
us their descriptions, so we may see ourselves at least a'^ 
"others saw us." 

A spirit of exuberant vitality and hopefulness character- 
ized the American people ; industrial progress was in the 
air ; the mind was turned toward wealth and the exploiting 
of the marvelous natural resources of the continent. Under 
such conditions it was only natural that these travellers all 
found commercialism dominant ; however the fairer minded 
saw also a people earnest for education, full of enthusiasm 
for ideals, even if they did also see much social crudeness, 
and little literature and scholarship. They recognized that 
the American was living in the future, and destined to 
move more rapidly forward intellectually, as w-ell as mate- 
rially. 

The extracts given will also show that while an Ameri- 



380 AMERICAN HISTORY 

can people was in process of formation, its standards still 
varied in the different sections of the country. The old 
three-fold division still played a part, but now, instead of 
being North, Middle, and South, the lines of separation 
rather formed a North, West, and South, with a tendency 
for the North and \\'est to coalesce more rapidly than North 
and wSouth. In fact there were symptoms that a North and 
a South were tending to be formed, based on the labor sys- 
tems in vogue. This study, taken in connection with those 
made for 1700, and 1790, will afford a means to trace the 
industrial and social evolution which was developing a new 
people as well as a new Nation. 

1. THE INDUSTRIAL OUTLOOK ABOUT 1840 
a. Business Characteristics: 

Progressiveness (The Americans as Seen by Grund in his 
travels in America. 1837) "An American is almost from his 
cradle brought up to reflect on his condition, and, from the time 
he is able to act, employed with the means of improving it. 
. . . He is ever watchful, ever on the alert, not as most 
Europeans, as a mere spectator, but as one of the actors, en- 
gaged in maintaining or reforming the existing state of af- 
fairs. . . . From the earliest period of his life, a young Ameri- 
can is accustomed to rely upon himself as the principal artificer 
of his fortune. Whatever he learns or studies is with a view 
to future application ; and the moment he leaves school he 
immerses into active life. . . . As a school-boy he has his 
opinions on politics and religion ; which he defends with as 
much ardor as if he were a senator of the republic or a min- 
ister of the gospel. ..." 

American Business Instinct (Grund). "There is probably 
no people on earth with whom business constitutes pleasure, 
and industry amusement, in an equal degree with the inhabi- 
tants of the United States of America. . . . Business is the 
very soul of an American; he pursues it, not as a means of 
procuring for himself and his family the necessary comforts 
of life, but as the fountain of all human happiness : . . . 



IMAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 381 

Machines are invented, new lines of communication established, 
and the depths of the sea explored to afford scope for the spirit 
of enterprise; . . . Labor is as essential to their well-being as 
food and raiment to an European. The national characteristic 
of the Americans, together with their love of independence, is 
a complete commentary on the history of all their settlements, 
and the progress of manufactures and commerce. ... It 
appears, then, that the universal disposition of Americans to 
emigrate to the western wilderness, in order to enlarge their 
dominion over inanimate nature, is the actual result of an ex- 
pansive power, which is inherent in them. . . . 

x^n American merchant is an enthusiast who seems to de- 
light in enterprise in proportion as it is connected wnth danger. 
He ventures his fortune with the same heroism with which 
the sailor risks his life ; . . . An American carries the spirit 
of invention even to the counting room. . . . He is an in- 
ventor, not an imitator. 

America possesses all the requisites of a manufacturing 
country, water, coal, and a highly ingenious, inventive popula- 
tion. Wages are higher, and coal and iron dearer than in 
England ; but the taxes are lower, living cheaper, and raw 
material, . . . obtained at a less rate in the country. The 
water-power of the United States, moreover, exceeds that of 
all other countries in the world, and is a cheap substitute for 
steam : . . ." ^ 

Aiiiei icon Iirc'cntiz'cncss. 

W. Chambers. "Like all travellers from England who visit 
the factories of the United States. I was struck with the orig- 
inality of many of the mechanical contrivances which came 
under my notice at Cincinnati. Under the enlightenment of 
universal education and the imprlse of a great and growing 
demand, the American mind would seem to be ever on the rack 
of invention to discover fresh applications of inanimate 
power. . . . " - 

Mackay. " In every trifle an American shows the value 
he puts upon time. He rises early . . . , and is the whole 



1. Grund, The Americans. I, 10, 232-233; II. 1-8, 75, 133. 

2. Chambers, Things as They Are in America, 153. 



382 AMERICAN HISTORY 

day at his business .... the acquisition of wealth has become 
the great spring of action. But it is not sought after with the 
avarice to horde, but with the ostentation to expend. . . ."^ 
An American is not a being of strong local attachments, 
and the shghtest temptation to profit is always strong enough 
to induce him to quit his native State, . . ."* 

b. Means of Communication: 

Railroads : their constnictioii and influence. 

W. Chambers. '' It is an unfortunate peculiarity in Ameri- 
can railways, that certain States have adopted different gauges, 
so that a break necessarily takes place in passing from one to 
another. In [my] journey .... I had occasion to leave the 
state of Ohio ; pass through . . . [part] of Pennsylvania ; 
and finish in the state of New York. In each of these states, 
the tracks were of a different width, and the shifting was any- 
thing but agreeable. ..." '' 

Grund. " The railroads, in progress, or completed, in the 
month of January 1835 exceeded sixteen hundred miles in 
length, and their cost was . . . estimated at thirty millions of 
dollars. ... At the last session of the legislature of New 
York in 1836, no less than forty-two new railroad companies 
were incorporated. . . . The same spirit of improvement is 
strong in the other states. . . . 

The increased facilities of intercourse which are thus cre- 
ated between the different states cannot but produce the hap- 
piest results. They lessen the expense of travelling . . . ; 
they enhance the value of real estate throughout the Union, 
by shortening the distances which exist between the towns 
and country ; they increase commerce and open up a market for 
the produce of the western lands, . . ; they are the means of 
spreading civilization and learning . . . ; and lastly, the 
most important of all, they amalgamate the different elements 
of which the population of the United States is composed to a 
large homogenious whole, and strengthen the bonds of Union 



3. Mackay, A Trip through the United States, 12, 13. 

4. Hamilton, Men and Manners in America, 111. 

5. Chambers, Things as They Are in America. 162. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCR.\TIC NATION 383 

between the different states by so interweaving their individual 
interests, that a separation could not be effected without a 
severe diminution of prosperity to all. The last two conse- 
quences are from their moral and political importance the most 
desirable of all, and are, of themselves, sufficient to create a 
permanent interest." ^ 

Means of enlarging markets (Chambers) " Not satisfied, 
however, with this large local sale [at Cincinnati], the producers, 
... are opening a trade with New Orleans, to which the straw- 
berries are to be sent packed in ice. Sixteen hundred miles 
seemed to me rather a long way to send strawberries to market ; 
but when did an American think of distance ? " ' 

"Anthracite coal for steamers. The superiority of this coal 
to wood, for propelling steamboats, has been demonstrated. 
. . . The saving in the use of this fuel instead of wood is 
estimated at fully fifty per cent. . . . The inconvenience ex- 
perienced from the smoke and sparks of wood fires will be 
avoided." * 

c. The Cities; characteristics: 

A description of two New England Towns (By Charles 
Dickens, the Novelist, 1842). 

Boston. "When I got into the streets upon this Sunday 
morning, the air was so clear, the houses were so bright and 
gay; the signboards were painted in such gaudy colors; the 
gilded letters were so very golden; the bricks were so very 
red, the stone was so very white, the blinds ... so very 
green, the nobs and plates upon the street doors so raarvel- 
ously bright and twinkling; and all so slight and unsubstantial 
in appearance — that every thoroughfare in the city looked 
exactly like a scene in a pantomine. . . . The suburbs, are, if pos- 
sible, even more unsubstantial looking than the city. The city 
is a beautiful one, and cannot fail ... to impress all strangers 
very favorably." 

Lowell — Intelligence of its mill workers. " I am now go- 

6. Grund, The Americans, II, 188, 191, 210-216. 

7. Chambers, Things as They Are in America, 159. 

8. Niles, Register, 58, p. 144. 



384 AMERICAN HISTORY 

ing to state three facts, which will startle a large class of 
readers on this [European] side of the Atlantic very much. 
Firstly, there is a joint-stock piano in a great many of the 
boarding houses [where the mill-girls boarded]. Secondly, 
nearly all these young ladies subscribe to circulating libraries. 
Thirdly, they have got up among themselves a periodical called 
The Lowell Offering. ..." 

Cincinnati: The great hog market. 

Dickens. " Cincinnati is a beautiful city, cheerful, thriving 
and animated, . . . with its clean houses of red and white ; 
its well-paved roads ; and foot-ways of bright tile. . . . " ^ 

Mackay. "All Cincinnati is redolent of swine. Swine prowl 
about the streets and act the part of scavengers, until they are 
ready to become merchandise and visit Europe. Swine are 
driven into it daily and hourly by every avenue. . . ." ^^ 

Chicago — Its crudeness (As seen by Harriet Martineau, 
1836). "Chicago looks raw and bare, standing on the high 
prairie above the lake-shore. The houses appeared all insig- 
nificant, and run up in various directions, without any prin- 
ciple at all. ... I never saw a busier place than Chicago was 
at the time of our arrival. The streets were crowded with 
land speculators, hurrying from one sale to another. A negro, 
dressed up in scarlet, bearing a scarlet flag, and riding a white 
horse with housings of scarlet, announced the times of sale 
.... and it seemed as if some prevalent mania infected the 
whole people. ... A young lawyer . . . had realized five 
hundred dollars per day. the five preceding days, by merely 
making out titles to land. ... A bursting of the bubble must 
come soon. . . . [On the lake] This ship was the only place 
in America where I saw a prevalence of bad manners. . . . 
None of us had ever before seen, in America, a disregard of 
women. The swearing was incessant. . . ."^^ 

Toledo and town-lot speculation (Captain Maryatt). "To- 
ledo is the next town of consequence on the lake. . . . Three 
years ago the land was purchased at a dollar and a-half per 



9. Charles Dickens, American Notes, 209-210. 251, 346. 

10. Mackay, A Trip through the United States, 201. 

11. Harriet Martineau, Travels in the United States, 259, 271. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 385 

acre ; now, it is selling for building lots at one hundred dollars 
per foot. ..." 1- 

Charleston: Soiifhcrn Commerce (Account by J. S. Bucking- 
ham, Member of Eng. Parliament). " The commerce of Charles- 
ton is greater than that of any port between New York and 
Kew Orleans, exceeding that of Philadelphia or Baltimore, but 
. . . the ships actually belonging to the port of Charleston 
. . . amount to nearly 20,000 tons ; while not less than 180,- 
000 tons, exclusive of coasters, enter the harbor in the course 
of al year." ^^ 

d. The standard of living: 

Abundance of food-supplies (Hamilton, an English aristo- 
crat, sees America) . " These western regions are undoubtedly 
the chosen abode of plenty. Provisions are so cheap that no 
one seems ever to dream of economy. ... In my progress 
down the western waters, I had become accustomed to a table, 
loaded even to excess with provisions of all sorts. In the 
Southern States there is no such profusion. . . . " ^* 

Expenses, prices — comparisons (Estimate by J. S. Bucking- 
ham). "Hotels of South. The charges, however, are much 
higher ; three dollars per day being the rate of boarding, while 
two dollars is the usual price at the best hotels of the North." 

" The newspapers of the south are much dearer than those 
at the north ; the two . . . here, as well as those at Charles- 
ton, selling for 12^ cents . . . per copy, though neither of 
them are as large as the smallest evening papers in Eng- 
land. . . ."^3 

Soil conditions; resources; outlook. 

Hamilton. " Georgia. At first the soil was considered ex- 
cellent, but wherever the forest has disappeared, the rains and 
torrents from the hills have swept off the earth from the de- 
clivities and left nothing but gravel. . . ."^^ 

Harriet Martineau. " Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, 



12. Captain Mariyat, A Diary in America, 89. 

13. Buckingham. The Slave States of America, I, 52. 

14. Hamilton. Men and Manners in America, 205, 33,^. 

15. Buckingham, The Slave States of America, I, 283, 12y. 

16. Hamilton. Men and Manners in America, 345. 



386 AMERICAN HISTORY 

present the extreme case of the fertility of the soil, the pros- 
perity of the proprietors, and the woes of the slaves, . . . and for 
any responsible service, slaves are totally unfit. Instead of living 
being cheaper on country estates, from the necessaries of life be- 
ing raised on them, it appears to be much more expensive. This is 
partly owing to the prevailing pride of having negroes to show. 
One family, of four persons, of my acquaintance, in South Caro- 
lina, whose style of living might be called homely, cannot man- 
age to live for less than three thousand dollars a year. They have 
a carriage and eleven negroes. . . . The prospects of agricul- 
ture in the States north-west of the Ohio are brilliant." ^' 

Slaves: treatment; degree of comfort. 

Buckingham. " From all I could perceive or learn, the con- 
dition of the domestic servants, or slaves of the household, was 
quite as comfortable as that of servants in the middle ranks of 
life in England. . . ."^^ "We visited one of the rice planta- 
tions in the neighborhood of Savannah, and saw the condition 
of the slaves with our own eyes. . . . The slaves are all up 
by daylight; and every one who is able to work . . . repair 
~ to their several departments of field-labor. They do not re- 
turn to their houses either to breakfast or dinner ; but have 
their food cooked for them in the field, . . . They continue 
thus at work till dark, . . . Their allowance of food consists 
of a peck ... of Indian corn per week. . . . This corn they 
are obliged to grind for themselves, after their hours of labor are 
over, . . . Of clothes, the men and boys had a coarse woollen 
jacket and trousers once a year, . . . Their summer apparel 
consists of a similar suit ... of the coarsest cotton cloth. . . ." 

" Instances of hiring out negroes to work, not for their own 
benefit, but for that of their owners, are common ; . . . 
[Canal contractors advertised to pay] at the rate of eighteen 
dollars per month for each prime hand. . . . " ^^ 

Harriet Martineau, English economist. "The institution of 
slavery was a political anomoly at the time of the Revolution. 
It has now become an economical one also. Nothing can pre- 
vent the generality of persons seeing this, however blind a few, 
a very few persons on the spot may be to the truth. . . . 



17. Harriet Martineau, Travels in the United States, 304, 306. 

18. Buckingham, The Slave States of America, I, 131. 

19. Buckingham. The Slave States of America, I, 132, 136. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 387 

Among the many hundreds of persons in the slave States, with 
whom I conversed on the subject of slavery, I met only one, 
a lady, who defended the institution altogether; and with per- 
haps four or five who defended it as necessary to a purpose 
which must be fulfilled and could not be fulfilled otherwise. 
All the rest who vindicated its present existence did so on the 
impossibility of doing it away. . . ."20 

2. SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS 
a. Americans live in and for the future: 

Hopefulness and preparation for future (Grund). "The 
Americans ... are living altogether for their children. They 
are ready to make any sacrifice for the advancement of future 
generations, and love their country not as it is; but as it luill be 
made by their enterprise and industry. . . . "" 

"The Americans, as a nation, are the most reading people 
on the face of the earth. . . . The ablest and most skilful 
instructors in the United States are natives from New England. 
. . . It is computed that not less than sixty thousand New 
Englanders are employed annually in the instruction of chil- 
dren, in the different states ; . . . "' 

" The most remarkable characteristic of Americans is the 
uncommon degree of intelligence which pervades all classes. 

On entering the house of a respectable mechanic, in any of 
the large cities of the United States, one cannot but be aston- 
ished at the apparent neatness and comfort of the apartments, 
. . , the nice carpets, mahogany furniture, and the tolerably 
good library. ..." -1 

Eagerness to oi^'u land (Harriet jMartineau). "The pos- 
ses'sion of land is the aim of all action, generally speaking, and 
the cure for all social evils. If a man is disappointed in poli- 
tics or love, he goes and buys land. If he disgraces himself, he 
betakes himself to a lot in the west. If the demand for any 
article of manufacture slackens, the operatives drop into the 

20. Hairitl Martine.ui. Travels in tlie United States, 348. 

21. Cnuiil, Tlie Americans, I, 91, 187, 212, 26, 47. 



388 AMERICAN HISTORY 

unsettled lands An artizan works that he may die on land 

of his own. He is frugal, that he may enable his son to be a 
landowner. Farmer's daughters go into factories that they may 
clear off the mortgage from their fathers' farms; . . ."-- 

b. The style of living: 

The meals — quality — comparisons (Harriet Martineau). 
"May, 1835, Stockbridge, Mass. It was as a favor that the 
widow Jones took us in. . . . We had a parlour, with three 
windows . . . ; two good-sized chambers, . . ; our board 
with the family. . . ; and all for two dollars per week each. 
. . . We breakfasted ... on excellent bread, potatoes, hung 
beef, eggs and strong tea. . . . All young people in these vil- 
lages are more or less instructed. .Schooling is considered a 
necessary of life. ... In the evenings we made a descent 
upon the village. ... If we staid below till nine, the family 
had gone to rest on our return. We had only to lift the latch, 
light our candles, and make our way to the milk-pans, if we 
were thirsty. . . .'' 

" The contrast is also striking between the country Jife of 
New England and that of the west; . . . [I]n Kentucky, [o]ur 
days were passed in great luxury. ... we relished the table 
fare. . . . The tender meat, fresh vegetables. . . . with the 
daily piles of strawberries and towers of ice-cream, were wel- 
come luxuries. There were thirty-three horses in the stables, 
and we roved about the neighboring country accordingly. . . . 

The newly settled districts of the Southern States are as 
unlike as possible to all this. ... If human life presents its 
fairest aspects in the retired townships of New England, — 
some of its worst, perhaps, are seen in the raw, settlements of 
Alabama and Mississippi. . . . We arrived at Columbus be- 
fore sunset. . . . The provisions were good, but ill-cooked, 
. . . The stores looked creditably stocked; ..." 

" At Ypsilanti [Mich.] I picked up an Ann Arbor news- 
paper. It was badly printed ; but its contents were pretty good ; 
and it could happen nowhere out of American, that ?o raw a 
settlement as that of Ann Arbor, where there is difficulty in 



!2. Harriet Martineau, Travels in America, 292. 



Mx\KIXG OF A DEMOCRATIC NATIQN 389 

procuring decent accommodations, should have a newspaper." 
Crude Comfort (Harriet Martineau). ''Mammoth Cave 
[Ky]. Supper was ready when we returned: . . . We saw 
the stars through chinks in our walls ; . . . Shallow tin-pans, — 
tnilk-pans, I believe — were furnished to satisfy our request for. 
ewer and basin. . . . Before it was light, I was awakened 
by a strong cold breeze blowing upon me ; and at dawn, I found 
that the entire lower half of the window was absent. A deer 
Tiad leaped through it a few weeks before ; and there had been 
110 opportunity of mending it. But everything was clean; 
everybody obliging ; the hostess was motherly ; and . . . we 
had all slept well, . . . " -" 

c. Democracy: 

Strength in the West. 

Description by a friendly Frenchman (A. De Tocqueville, 
1830) . "... And in the Western settlements we may behold 
Democracy arrived at its utmost limits. In these States, 
founded oi¥-hand, and as it were by chance, the inhabitants are 
but of yesterday. Scarcely known to one another, the nearest 
neighbors are ignorant of each other's history. In this part 
of the American continent, therefore, the population has es- 
caped the influence not only of great names and great wealth, 
but even of the natural aristocracy of knowledge and virtue. 
None are then able to wield that respectable power which men 
■willingly grant to the remembrance of a life spent in doing 
good before their eyes. 

It is not impossible to conceive the surprising liberty which 
the Americans enjoy ; some idea may likewise be formed of 
their extreme equality; but the political activity which pervades 
the United States must be seen in order to be understood. No 
sooner do you set foot upon American ground, than you are 
stunned by a kind of tumult ; a confused clamor is heard on 
every side : and a thousand simultaneous voices demand the 
satisfaction of their social wants. . . ."-* 

Mackay. " Railway travelling in the United States is not 



23. Harriet :Martineau, Travels in America, 193. 201, 212, 237. 

24. De Tocqueville, Democracy in America, I, 64. 



390 AMERICAN HISTORY 

agreeable. Such easy luxury as that of a first-class carriage 
in England or France is not to be obtained for love or money. 
In a land of social equality every one except the negro travels 
in the first class. The servant and the mistress, the pedlar, 
the farmer, the merchant, the general, the lawyer, the senator, 
the judge, the governor of the State, with their wives, their 
sons, and their daughters, and even the Irish bogtrotter, . . . 
all mingle together in one long car, . . .'"^ 

Customs and habits of the people. 

De Tocqueville. " As Washington may be called the head- 
quarters of tobacco-tinctured saliva, the time is come when I 
must confess, . . . that the prevalence of these two odious 
practices of chewing and expectorating began about this time 
to be anything but agreeable, and soon became most offensive 
and sickening. In all places in America, this filthy custom is 
recognized .. . ." -" 

Chambers. " I think travellers, generally, in their descrip- 
tions, exaggerate the chewing and spitting of the Americans. 
It is, in reality, only here and there you meet a person who 
abandons himself to these nauseous practices, while to the mass 
of the more respectable people in the States, they are probably 
as disagreeable as to any well-bred European." "" 

Buckingham. " Drinking. The habits of drinking, which 
are more or less the causes of the excesses here described, are 
more openly practiced and encouraged in the cities of the 
South that at the North." -« 

Hamilton. "One circumstance may be mentioned, which 
is tolerably illustrative of the general habits of the people. In 
every steam-boat there is a public comb and hair-brush, sus- 
pended by a string from the ceiling of the cabin. These uten- 
sils are used by the whole body of the passengers, and their 
condition, the pen of Swift could alone adequately describe. 
There is no tooth-brush, simply, I believe, because the article 
is entirely unknown to the American toilet. . . ."' ^^ 



25. Mackay, A Trip through the United Slates, I, 56. 

26. Charles Dickens, American Notes, 297. 

27. Chambers, Things as They Are in America, 270. 

28. Buckingham, The Slave States of America, 287. 

29. Men and Manners in .America, 293, 296. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 391 

Mackay. "The native-born American, of Anglo-Saxon de- 
cent, looks upon all rough labor, except that of the farm, as 
somewhat derogatory from his dignity." ^^ 

d. Cities and their peculiar features: 

New York City. 

Dickens. " Once more in Broadway. . . . We are going 
to cross here. Take care of the pigs. Two portly sows are 
trotting up behind this carriage and a select party of half-a- 
dozen gentlemen hogs have just now turned the corner. . . . 
Here is a solitary swine lounging homeward by himself. He has 
only one ear; having parted with the other to vagrant dogs in 
the course of his city rambles, . . . They are the city scaven- 
gers, these pigs. Ugly brutes they are ; . . . Every pig knows 
where he lives, much better than anybody could tell him. At 
this [evening] hour, . . . you will see them roaming towards 
bed by scores, eating their way to the last. . . . " ^^ 

Mackay. " Throughout the whole country everybody shakes 
hands with everybody else, though the ladies are far more 
chary of the privilege than the ruder sex. . . . 

In England the newly married couple take a house, furnish 
it, and live quietly at home. In the cities of America . . . 
they too commonly take apartments at the hotel and live in 
public, ... It saves trouble, annoyance and expense, — but at 
what a cost of the domestic anemities ! " ^- 

Philadelphia— regularity (Charles Dickens). "Philadelphia. 
It is a handsome city, but distractingly regular. After walk- 
ing about it for an hour or two, I felt I would have given the 
world for a crooked street. . . . " "^ 

New York — size of the hoop-skirt (IMackay). 
' Truth compels me to state that, as regards the mere vol- 
ume and circumference of hoop or crinoline, the ladies of 
London and Paris are, to those of New York, but as butter- 
flies compared with canary birds." ^* 

Boston — American Hotels (Chambers). "In Boston, I had 



30. Mackay, A Trip through (he United States, 177. 

31. Charles Dickens, American Notes, 269. 

32. Mackay, A Trip through the United States, 128. 43. 

33. Charles Dickens, .\merican Notes, 282. 

34. Mackay. A Trip tlirough the United States. 21. 



392 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the opportunity of seeing for the first time a specimen of that 
extraordinary hotel system, which forms one of the leading 
social features of the United States, and which may be said to 
have attained its full development in the city of New York. 
... At dinner . . . , I waited to see the nature of the 
scramble, which English travellers speak of as characteristic 
o[ the American dining-system. But the whole routine was 
-quiet and decorous." ^^ 

Washington, Its incompleteness (Mackay). "... Every- 
l)ody knows that Washington has a capitol ; br.t the misfortune 
is that the Capital wants a city. There it stands, reminding 
you of a general without an army, only surrounded and fol- 
lowed by a parcel of ragged little dirty boys ; for such is the 
appearance of the dirty, straggling, ill-built houses which lie 
at the foot of it." ^'^ 

•e. The South: 

Some Characteristics. 

Grundy. " The manners of the southerners in general, but 
•especially those of the Virginians and South Carolinans, are 
more highly polished than those of the industrious population 
of the north, . . . They know and appreciate refinement and 
•elegance ; but they possess less of the enterprising spirit of the 
New Englanders. . . . Business talents are comparatively rare ; 
but there is no deficiency of genius. The north act by their 
masses, the south by the brilliant talents of individuals. Intelli- 
gence to the north is as much divided as property. There are 
no overgrown fortunes, neither is there poverty or want. In 
the southern states the division is more unequal. The inhabi- 
tants of the south form an aristocracy with regard to the ne- 
groes ; but the principal distinction being that of color, they are 
on an equality with each other, and are among the stoutest 
defenders of Republicanism." •'" 

Buckingham. Like the society of Charleston, this of Sa- 
vannah is characterized by great elegance in all tlieir deport- 



35. Chambers, Things as They Are in America, 47. 

36. Captain Marryat, A Diary in .America, I, 163. 

37. Grund, The Americans, II, 323-324. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 393 

ment, ... A high sense of honor, and a freedom from all the 
little meannesses and tricks of trade, seem to prevail miiver- 
sally among the gentlemen, . . . ; while the ladies are not 
only well educated, but elegant in their manners, . . . The 
consequence is. great precocity of manners in both sexes, and 
often very early marriages. . . . Febr. 20, 1839 : — Married — 
On the 7th inst., by Rev. S. Gibson, Mr. Hiram Dill, aged 14, 
to Miss Margaret Ann Langley ; aged 13 years, both of Green- 
ville District [S. C.]." 

The Macon Female College [Ga.]. Though the building is. 
not yet finished, there are already 150 young ladies, . . . re- 
ceiving their education there ; and the style of tuition, and 
range of subjects taught, are not inferior to those of any of the 
Female Academies of the North : I had an opportunity of con- 
versing with the head master; and enjoyed the advantages of 
the services of the Latin, French, and Spanish teachers for. my 
son ; and they appeared as competent ... as those of the 
best schools of Europe." 

Lyell (a celebrated English scientist). "The following is 
an advertisement copied verbatim from a Natchez paper: — 
[1846]. 

' Ninety Negroes for Sale. 

I have about ninety negroes, just arrived from Richmond, 
Virginia, consisting of field hands, house servants, carriage 
drivers, two seamstresses, several very ^fijie^ cooks (females), 
and one very fine neat cook (male), one blacksmith, one car- 
penter, and some excellent mules and excellent wagons and 
harness, and one very fine riding horse — all of which I will 
sell at the most reasonable prices. I have made arrangements 
in Richmond, Va., to have regular shipments every month, and 
intend to keep a good stock on hand of every description of 
servants during the season. 

Natchez, Oct. 16.— tf. John D. James." ^^^ 



38. Buckingham, The Slave States of America, I, 122, 127, 195. 

39. Lyell. A Second Visit to the United States, II, 126. 



394 AMERICAN HISTORY 

3. AMERICAN MORALS 

a. High Moral Standards: 

Domestic Virtues (A favorable opinion by Grund). "I 
consider the domestic virtues of the Americans as the principal 
source of all their other good qualities. . . . No government 
could be established on the same principle as that of the 
United States, vi^ith a different code of morals. . . . Another 
feature of the American character, which is evidently entailed 
upon them from the English, is their unbounded respect for 
law. . . ."*° 

Sunday Observance. 

Niles Register. " Sunday travelling. A judicial decision 
of some interest to those who furnish means and appliances 
for Sunday travelling was lately had at Philadelphia. In a case 
... to recover damages for injury done to a pair of horses 
by several young men who had engaged them on the Sabbath, 
Judge Stroud ordered a non-suit to be entered, on the ground 
that contracts made for the performance of work on the Sab- 
bath was [were] not legal, and therefore the plaintiff could 
not sustain his case." *^ 

Grund. "... The Lord's day is observed as in England. 
The shops are closed ; . . . chains are drawn across the streets 
to prevent the hearers of the Word from being disturbed by 
the noise of horses and vehicles ; ... In some parts of the 
Southern states I have seen the sabbath kept in a manner still 
more rigorous than in any town of New England. . . . " *- 

Hamilton. " The New Englanders are a cold, shrewd, cal- 
culating, and ingenious people, of phlegmatic temperament, and 
perhaps have in their composition less of the stuff of which 
enthusiasts are made, than any other in the world. In no 
other part of the globe, ... is morality at so high a pre- 
mium. A New Englander is far more a being of reason than 
of impulse. . . . His faculties are always sharp; his feelings 
are obtuse. . . . The New Englanders are not an amiable peo- 



40. Grund, The Americans, I, 306, 312. 

41. Niles, Register, 58, p. 243. 

42. Gnind. The Americans, I, 72. 



MAKING OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 395 

pie. . . . Wealth is more equally distributed in [it] than 
perhaps in any other country of the world." ''•^ 

b. Temperance and Prison reform: 

A Temperance pledge of 1840. " I promise to abstain from 
all intoxicating drinks, . . ; and to discontinue the cause and 
practice of intemperance. 

Fruits of temperance Fruits of intemperance. 

Domestic Comfort, Ruin of Families, 

Favor of God, Anger of God, 

and and 

Respect of Man, Contempt of Man. 

Peace and Plenty. Poverty in its worst forms. 

Health of soul and body. Disease and Crime. 

Eternal Happiness. Insanity — premature death. 

Eternal Misery." ■** 

Prison Reform (Charles Dickens). " In the outskirts stands 
a great prison. . . . The system here is rigid, strict, and hope- 
less solitary confinement. I believe it, in its effects, to be 
cruel and wrong. In its intention ... it is kind, humane, 
and meant for reformation; . . ,"*-^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What marked characteristic of the American boy 
may be noted ? (2) How did an American regard business, 
and how do you explain it? (3) How explain the constant 
westward migration? (4) What attitude did an American take 
in regard to use of his time? (5) Compare American and 
European outlook on manufacturing. (6) What new means 
of communication just coming into use and its influence? 
(7) What difference in construction of railways in 1840 and 
now? How explain? (8) What new fuel was just coming 
into use? (9) What American characteristic illustrated in the 
strawberry story? (10) Were the factory operators of 1840 
of a high or low standard of life and character? (11) What 
dominant industrial characteristics of the west? (12) Did 

43. Hamilton, Men and Manners in America. 94, 95. 

44. Niles, Register, 58, 343. 

45. Charles Dickens, American Notes, 293. 



396 AMERICAN HISTORY 

the slaves seem to live well or ill? (13) How about the profit- 
ableness of slave labor? (14) What especially interests you 
in the slave advertisement? (15) What can be said of the 
educational desires of the Americans of 1840? (16) Why the 
land hunger of Americans? (17) Give an estimate of the food 
and style of living of the American people of 1840. (18) Why 
the west the most democratic? (19) What can be said of the 
tobacco habit? (20) How can you illustrate the effects of the 
spirit of equality in American manners? (21) Who were New 
York's scavengers? (22) Compare manners of North and 
South. (23) What reforms under way by 1840? 

II. (1) Write a paper on the industrial outlook for the 
United States in 1840. (2) Compare the characteristics of the 
three sections. (3) Collect the characteristics you do not 
approve. (4) Changes from to-day. 

III. (1) Make a study of the development of manufacturings 
commerce, and agriculture at this date. (2) Compare the pe- 
riods 1790 and 1840, (a) industrially, (b) socially. (3) How 
do the standards of to-day compare with those of 1840? (4) 
Look up the political standards of that date to compare with 
social standards. 

Text-Book References. — Adams and Trent, 263-270; Ashley^ 
317-337; Channing, 377-390; Hart. 326-327, 338-346; James 
and Sanford. 298-305; MacDonaWs Johnston [ed. 1901], 271- 
282; McLaughlin. 315-316, 353; McMaster, 279-292; Montgom- 
ery [ed. 1905], 346-349, 364-365; Thomas [ed. 1903], 258-267, 
281. 



CHAPTER IV 
SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1841-1877 

The tendency to make the slavery question a dominant 
one culminated in the 40's. Climate and colonial conditions, 
strengthened by the cotton gin and the introduction of the 
short-staple cotton, had fastened slavery on the South. The 
North gradually became commercial and industrial with its 
intensive or free labor system, during the years in which 
the South was developing its extensive labor system 
and a purely agricultural life. All along the pathway of 
the past were signs of the growing antagonism in thought 
and interest, cropping out in such struggles as those over 
the admission of Missouri, the controversy over the tariff 
and nullification, and the right of petition. However it 
was not till the movement to acquire Texas that this sec- 
tional tendency became a sectional struggle, "an irrepressi- 
ble conflict" to end only after civil war and reconstruction. 
The years from 1841 to 1850 were dominated by the ques- 
tions that arose over the acquisition of new territory in the 
Texan and Mexican acquisitions. The chief issue was in 
regard to the right to control the institutions of these terri- 
tories, and in whose hands this right rested. The constitu- 
tion was studied anew and antagonistic doctrines were 
evolved as a result of these investigations. 

With the conflict becoming so bitter that the Union it- 
self seemed in danger Clay, supported by Webster, proposed 
a plan of compromise which was incorporated into statutes 
in 1850. For a time this compromise of 1850 was advo- 
cated as a "finality" by both the great parties, and accepted 
by the mass of the people. But with the Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill of 1854 began the struggle for a still greater stake than 
the territories, a struggle for the control of the nation itself. 

397 



398 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Parties were reorganized ; the supreme court in attempting, 
in the Dred Scott case, to remove the source of contention, 
only intensified the bitterness ; the John Brown raid, and 
finally the division of the Democratic party into a Northern 
and a Southern wing left the two sections face to face and 
neither willing or able to accept the view of the other. 

After an attempt to compromise in 1861, the God of bat- 
tles was appealed to and for four years the struggle wav- 
ered back and forth to terminate in the complete defeat of 
the south and the destruction of slavery. It took ten years 
more, however, before the process of reconstruction could 
be completed, and the new relationships put in process of 
gradual adjustment. l)y 1877 the Carpet Bag and Negro 
regime was ended, and the white men of the South were 
again in control locally, and ready to join in solving the 
new social and industrial problems that were coming in to 
demand adjustment. 

SFXTIOX I 

STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF TERRITORY— 1841-1 350 

The opposition to territorial extension found expression 
in all sections of the Union, but its chief centre was in New- 
England. However, the vast majority of the people were 
ready to see the doctrine of "manifest destiny" work itself 
out in pushing the boundaries of the nation to the Pacific. 
The Democratic party voiced this desire in its platform of 
1844, in the famous phrase "the reoccupation of Oregon, 
and the reannexation of Texas." The extracts will show 
that the argument against Texas turned mainly on the 
slavery issue. The Missouri compromise line was extended 
as a concession to the North. From 1846, when the 
$2,000,000 bill was introduced and the Wilmot Proviso pro- 
posed, to 1850 when Clay's compromise in substance was 
adopted. Congress and the country were intensely wrought 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 399 

up over the institutions that should be planted in the terri- 
tory acquired from Mexico. The war itself was only an 
epoch in the larger question. Three great theories were 
worked out in regard to the constitutional right to deter- 
mine the institutions of the newly acquired territory. In 
addition to these constitutional theories, an almost innumer- 
able number of compromise proposals were made, coming 
from North and South alike. The South was willing to ac- 
cept the extension of the line 36° 30' to the Pacific, although 
many, perhaps the majority of its members, denied the con- 
stitutional doctrine on which such a settlement was founded. 
The North, however, furnished few advocates for such a 
decision. It was greatly divided in theory, and not able to 
unite on any practical measure. Thus the years passed ; 
and the territories, although growing rapidly in population, 
remained without any legally organized government. 

Finally in 1848, provision was made for organizing Ore- 
gon in harmony with the principles of the Ordinance of 
1787; and in 1850, California became a free state, and New 
Mexico and Utah were organized as territories under the 
doctrine of "non-intervention" which had almost as many 
interpretations as there were advocates of its adoption. 
Cla}^ and compromise had thus won once more, and the day 
of final settlement was again deferred. 

1. THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS, 1843-1845 

a. The Siprit of the Times: 

Southern conception of tendencies (Calhoun, S. C, Febr., 
1837). "It is easy to see the end. By the necessary course of 
events, if left to themselves, we must become, finally, two peoples. 
It is impossible under the deadly hatred which must spring up 
between the two great sections, if the present causes are permitted 
to operate unchecked, that we should continue under the same 
political system. The conflicting elements would burst the Union 
asunder. . . . We of the South will not, cannot, surrender our 



400 AMERICAN HISTORY 

institutions. ... I hold that in the present state of civiliza- 
tion, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by 
color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual are 
brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding 
States between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good — a positive 
good." ^ 

Radical Northern Point of View. W. L. Garrison (Boston, 
1843). " Resolved, That the compact which exists between the 
North and the South is ' a covenant with death and an agree- 
ment with hell ' — involving both parties in atrocious criminality, 
and should be immediately annulled." 

Wendell Phillips (1843). "Resolved, That the abolitionists 
of this country should make it one of the primary objects of 
their agitation to dissolve the American Union : that secession 
from the present United States Government is the duty of every 
abolitionist ; since no one can hold office, . . . under the 
United States Constitution, without violating his anti-slavery 
principles, and rendering himself an abettor of the slaveholder 
in his sin." - 

b. The Texas Question; Oregon involved: 

The Argument for Annexation of Texas. Belser (Ala.). 
" The people of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Territory of Florida, 
. . . are most interested in the acquisition of Texas ; and let 
them not be beguiled with the syren song of peace, when there 
is no peace for them. . . . And the abolitionists have no just 
reason for objecting to immediate annexation. If they are sin- 
cere in their opposition to slavery, the further it is removed 
from them the better. . . . Slavery now exists in Texas ; and 
surely, to add Texas to the United States would not change 
its real character, or in any way increase it. To acquire Texas 
would be to diffuse slavery, and to remove most of that popula- 
tion from Missouri, Kentucky. Maryland, Virginia. It would 
open a new field to our adventurous population, and bring into 
requisition a large territory, remarkat)le for climate, fertility, 



1. Cralle. Works of Calhoun, II, 629-630. 

2. Garrison, Life and Writings of Garrison, III, 90, 99-100. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 401 

its abundance of game, ... It would give additional stimulus 
to agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. ... It is impor- 
tant in a military point of view. ... It would return to the 
United States her natural boundaries and give her full com- 
mand of her western waters. ... It would check border wars. 
... It is larger than France; and the money to be paid for 
it would soon be returned. No country ever refused such a 
boon. It would be bringing into the Union a daughter of the 
pure blood — an heir to the inheritance of freedom, . . . The 
question of Texian annexation can not die. . . . Senators may 
reject the treaty, but the treaty in the end will reject them. 
. . . Texas is ours, and no government can deprive a mother 
of such a daughter." ^ 

Mr. Buchanan (Pa.). " Now sir, annex Texas to the United 
States, and we shall have within the limits of our confederacy 
all the favored cotton growing regions of the earth. ..." 

Thompson (Miss.) replied [to Adams] insisting upon the 
claim of the people of the South to the annexation of Texas 
to preserve the balance of power, especially in the Senate." * 

"Jackson [approves Tyler] in his patriotic endeavors to 
reannex Texas to the United States — the most important ques- 
tion, as it relates to the defense, the security, and safety of 
the most important interests of the whole Union that has ever 
been presented to us. It is a great national, and not a party 
question." 

" Tyler said, I believed, and still believe, that the annexa- 
tion of Texas would add to its [U. S.] strength, and serve to 
perpetuate it for ages yet to come. . . . " ^ 

Legislature of Mississippi. "... Your Committee are fully 
persuaded that this protection to her best interests will be af- 
forded by the annexation of Texas : an equipoise of influence 
in the halls of Congress will be secured which will furnish us 
a permanent guaranty of protection." ^ 



3. Gales & Seaton, Cong. Globe, XIII, 524-525. 

4. C. F. .'Kdams, Memoirs of J. O Adams, X, 11. 

5. Tyler, Life and Times of the Tylers. II, 341, 349. 

6. Niles. Register, 64, p. 174. 



402 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Arguments against Annexation. 

J. Q. Adams et. al. (March 3. 1843). "... We hesitate 
not to sa}^ that annexation, effected by any act or proceeding 
of the federal government, or any of its departments, zvould be 
identical with dissolution. It would be a violation of our na- 
tional compact, ... so injurious to the interests and abhor- 
rent to the feelings of the people of the free states, as, in our 
opinion, not only inevitably to result in a dissolution of the 
Union, but fully to justify it; and we not only assert that the 
people of the free states 'i ought not to submit to it,' but we say, 
with confidence, they icoiild not submit to it." ' 

J. Q. Adams in Diary (May 22, 1844). "This was a mem- 
orable day in the annals of the world. The treaty for the an- 
nexation of Texas to this Union was this day sent in to the 
Senate; and with it went the freedom of the human race. . . . 
This Texan annexation we deem the turning point of a revo- 
lution which transforms the North American Confederation 
into a conquering and war-like nation. Aggrandizement will 
l)e its passion and its poHcy. A military government, a large 
army, a costly navy, distant colonies, and associate islands in 
every sea, will follow of course in rapid succession, . . . the 
skeleton forms of war and slavery will stalk unbridled over the 
land. Blessed God. deliver us from this fate !" ^ 

Webster. "... In the next place, ... I never could, 
and never can, persuade myself to be in favor of the admission 
of other States into the Union as slave States, ... I do not 
think that the free States ever ex])ected, or could expect, that 
they would be called on to admit more slave States, having 
the unequal advantages arising to them from the mode of ap- 
portioning representation under the existing Constitution." ^ 

Anszver by the South. James Hamilton (S. C), April 11, 
1844. "... With all possible moderation allow me to ask, if 
this (slavery) is the ground on which Texas is to be excluded 
from the confederacy ; have we any other alternative but 
Annexation or Disunion?"^** 



7. Niles, Register, 64, p. 175. 

8. C. F. Adams, Memoirs of J. O. Adams. XII, 13, 57. 

9. Webster's Works (ed. 1860), \', 57. 

10. Niles, Register, 66, p. 132. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 403 

The Richmond Whig (April 19, 1844). "We hear on all 
hands and indeed never doubted, that Captain Tyler's treaty 
for making himself president a second time, will be rejected by 
a great vote in the Senate." ^^ 

Vote on ratification of Texas treaty (June 8. 1844). "At 
9 p. M. a direct vote was taken on the question of the ratifica- 
tion of the Texas treaty. The vote was as follows ; Yeas, 16, 
Nays, 35." ^- 

c. Annexation becomes a Party Issue: 

The Democratic platform for Oregon and Texas (1844). 
" Resolz'ed, That our title to the whole of the Territory of Ore- 
gon is clear and unquestionable ; that no portion of the same 
ought to be ceded to England or any other power ; and that the 
re-occupation of Oregon, and the re-annexation of Texas at 
the earliest practicable period, are great American measures, 
which the convention reconmiends to the cordial .support of 
the Democracy of the Union." ^^ 

d Annexation of Texas by Joint Resolution: 

The plan snspected (The National Intelligencer, April 19, 
1844). "... The Treaty of Annex.ation has not yet been 
sent to the Senate. . . . May it [The Tyler policy] not . . . 
prompt an attempt to evade the two-thirds' vote of the Senate, 
and force some bill or ' joint resolution ' by a bare majority 
vote through both houses of Congress? . . ." ^* (April 27). 
" The result of the trials of strength of the different proposi- 
tions was the passage ... of the ' joint resolution ' intro- 
duced some days ago by the Hon. Milton Brown, a whig mem- 
ber from the state of Tennessee, with an amendment, accepted 
by him, limiting the existence of slavery in Texas to the ter- 
ritory south of the Missouri Compromise line." ^^ 

Terms of Annexation (March 1, 1845). "Resolved by the 



11. Niles. Register, 66, p. 117. 

12. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe, XIII, 652. 

13. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XV, 413. 

14. Niles. Register, 66. p. 118, extract from National Intelligencer. 

15. Niles, Register, 66. p. 342. 



404 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Senate and House . . . That the territory properly included 
within, and rightfully belonging to, the Republic of Texas, 
may be erected into a new State. . . . 

2. And be it further resolved. That the foregoing consent 
of Congress is given upon the following conditions . . . ; 
First, . . . and the Constitution thereof . . . to be laid before 
Congress . . . before the first day of January [1846]. Third. 
New States . . . not exceeding four in number, in addition 
to the said State of Texas . . . may hereafter be formed. 
. . . And in such State or States . . . north of said Missouri 
Compromise line, slavery or involuntary servitude . . . shall 
be prohibited. 

3. [Authorizes the president to negotiate a treaty if he 
deem it most advisable]."^" 

The Abolitiionist attitude tozvard Annexation. Garrison, in 
Fanueil Hall (Jan. 29, 1845). ". . . We deem it our duty to 
declare what ought to be . . . the course of Massachusetts 
should the infamous plan be consummated. Deeming the act 
utterly unconstitutional and void, we declare that the people 
of this commonwealth will never submit to it as the law of the 
land, but look upon the Union as dissolved, and proceed to 
form a new government for herself and such of the free states 
as will aid her in carrying out the great purposes of our 
fathers in behalf of civil liberty. . . . 

Sept. 22, he said, But who are we . . . that talk of such 
things ? Are we enough to make a revolution ? No, sir ; but 
we are enough to begin one, and once begun it can never be 
turned back. ... I thank God, that ... we stand on common 
ground here to-day. I pray God that party and sect may not 
be remembered. I trust the only question we shall feel like 
asking each other is. Are we prepared to stand by the cause 
of God and Liberty, and to have no union with slaveholders." ^'' 

President Polk announces annexation (Dec. 18, 1845). "In 
pursuance of the joint resolution of Congress * for annexing 
Texas to the United States,' my predecessor on the third day 
of March, 1845, elected to submit the first and second sections 



16. United States Statutes at Large, V, 797, 798. 

17. Garrison, Life of Garrison, III, 140-141. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 405 

of that resolution to the Republic of Texas, . . . The execu- 
tive government, the Congress, and the people of Texas in 
convention, have successively complied with all the terms and 
conditions of the joint resolution. ... As soon as the Act 
to admit Texas as a State shall be passed, the union of the 
two Republics will be consummated by their own voluntary 
consent. This accession to our territory has been a bloodless 
achievement. ... It was the deliberate homage of each peo- 
ple to the great principle of our Federal Union." ^^ 

2. OREGON AND ITS BOUNDARY 

a. The Question of a Compromjse Line: 

The Northern Democrats desire the whole of Oregon (Han- 
negan, Ind., Dec. 30, 1845). "(I) Resolved, That the country 
included within the parallels of 42° and 54° 40' north lati- 
tude, [between Rocky Mts. and Pacific] ... is the property, 
and part and parcel of the territories of the United States. (3) 
Resolved, That the abandonment or surrender of any portion 
of the Territory . . . would be an abandonment of the honor, 
character, and best interests of the American people. . . 
Mr. Calhoun moved [to amend]. Resolved, That the President 
of the United States, in renewing the offer in the spirit of peace 
and compromise, to establish the 49th degree . . . as a line 
between the possessions of the two countries, . . . did not 
abandon the ' honor &c.' 

Mr. Hannegan resumed: . . . There had been a singular 
course pursued on his Oregon question, ... it contrasted so 
strangely, so wonderfully, with a precisely similar question — 
the annexation of Texas. Texas and Oregon were born the 
same instant, nursed and cradled in the same cradle — the Bal- 
timore convention — and they were at the same instant adopted 
by the Democracy throughout the land. There was not a mo- 
ment's hesitation, until Texas was admitted; but the moment 
she was admitted, the peculiar friends of Texas turned, and 
were doing all they could to strangle Oregon. ... It was a 
most singular state of things. We were told that we must be 



18. Richardson, Messages and Papers, I\', 416. 



406 AMERICAN HISTORY 

careful not to involve ourselves in a war with England on a 
question of disputed boundary. There was a question of dis- 
puted boundary between us and Mexico; but did we hear, from 
the same quarter, any warnings against a collision with Mex- 
ico, when we were about to consummate the annexation of 
Texas ? . . . There was no negotiation there . . . ; we took all. 
But when Oregon is brought into question, we are called on, 
... to give a whole empire on the Pacific, if England desire 
it. He never would consent to a surrender of any portion of 
the country north of 49°, nor one foot, by treaty or otherwise, 
under 54° 40'." ^'■> 

The Souther)L Democrats deny that the President is com- 
mitted to §4° 40' (Haywood, N. C, friend of Calhoun, March 
7, 1846). "... insisted that President Polk was not com- 
mitted at the Baltimore Convention either for Oregon or Texas. 
. . .' Mr. Hannegan . . . held, . . . that the executive would be 
inconceivably base if he compromised the Oregon question 
short of 54° 40'. . . . The §4° 40' men — led on by Senators 
Cass [Mich.], Allen [O.], Hannegan [Ind.] &c., are for 'All 
OF Oregon — or none' and for war, if every inch of Oregon can- 
not be had without that alternative. The 4p° men — led on by the 
Calhoun phalanx of southern senators, are for settling the dis- 
pute by accepting the terms [49°], if now proposed by the Brit- 
ish government. . . . Meantime, the political parties at Wash- 
ington are furiously disputing as to whether President Polk will 
insist upon having all of Oregon — or will yield to the 49°." ^° 

An Anti-Slavery Whig for all Oregon (Giddings, Ohio, 
Jan. 5, 1846). "It is the annexation of Texas that has ren- 
dered the whole of Oregon necessary to restore the balance 
of power. By the annexation of Texas the Slave States 
now have a majority in the Senate. They will continue 
to retain that majority unless we add territory to our north- 
western border. . . . Southern gentlemen — whose voices at the 
last session were heard, loud and long, in favor of Texas and 
the whole of Oregon — now see a lion in the way. . . . But a 
vear ago their motto was now or never ; at this time ' a mas- 



19. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe. XV, 109-110. 

20. Niles, Register. 70, p. 16-17. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 407 

terly inactivity ' is their maxim. . . . They have suddenly 
called to mind the declaration of British statesmen that ' a war 
with the United States will be a war of emancipation.' . . ."-^ 

3. THE NORTH PROPOSES TO MAKE ALL ACQUIRED 
TERRITORY FREE 

a. The Wilmot Proviso: 

Amendment to the $2,000,000 Bill. Wilmot (Pa. Deni.) 
Aug. 5,1846. Moved to pass "Provided, That, as an express 
and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory 
from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue 
of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to 
the use by the executive of the moneys herein appropriated, 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in 
any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party 
shall first be duly convicted. . . . Mr. Wick [Ind.] moved 
to amend the amendment by inserting therem after the word 
' territory,' the words, ' north of 36° 30' north latitude.' [Amend- 
ment lost 54 to 83; Wilmot amendment carried 83 to 64.]" 22 

Secret History of the Wilmot Proviso (the Baltimore Amer- 
ican. " There is a secret as well as a public history of the 
two million bill. . . . For the first time perhaps in the history 
of the government there was a sectional vote upon this mo- 
mentous cjuestion [of slavery] and the friends of the adminis- 
tration from the free states led off the opposition to their 
southern brethren. They remembered the ' bad faith ' of the 
south, as the}' called it, upon the Oregon question, and were 
resolved that no more slave territory should come into the 
Union with their consent." -' 

Argiijnents against the Proi'iso. Legislature of Virginia 
(Febr. 5, 1849). ''2. Resolved, nnaiiiniously. That all terri- 
tory which may be acquired by the arms of the United States, 
. . . belongs to the several States of this Union, as their joint 
and common property, in which each and all have equal rights ; 
... 5. Resolved unanimously, That the passage of the above 



21. Rlaii- and Rives, Cong. Globe, XV, 139. 

22. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe, XV, p. 1217. 

23. Niles, Register, 70, p. 374. 



408 AMERICAN HISTORY 

mentioned proviso [Wilmot] makes it the duty of every slave- 
holding State ... to take firm, united, and concerted action 
in this emergency." -* 

Calhoun (Feb. 19. 1847). ". . . We were told . . . that 
all parties in the non-slave-holding portion of the Union in- 
sisted that they should have the exclusive control of this ac- 
quired territory [Mexican]. . . . How, then, do we stand in 
reference to this territorial question — this public domain of 
ours? Why, Sir, what is it? It is the common property of 
the States of this Union. . . . Sir, these territories are the 
property of the States united : held jointly for their common 
use. . . . [Therefore] Resolved, That the Territories of the 
United States belong tjo the several States composing this Union, 
and are held by them as their joint and common property. 
Resolved, That Congress, as the joint agent and representative 
of the States of this Union has no right to make any law . . . 
that shall directly, or by its effects, make any discrimination be- 
tween the States of this Union, by which any of them shall be 
derived of its full and equal right in any territory of the United 
States acquired or to be acquired." -° 

Rhett. S. C. (Jan. 15, 1847). "The court declares that the 
territories belong to the United States. They are tenants in 
common, or joint proprietors, and co-sovereigns over them. . . . 
The only effect and probably the only object of their reserved 
sovereignty is that it secures to each State the right to enter 
the territories with her citizens and settle and occupy them with 
their property — with whatever is recognized as property by 
each State. The ingress of the citizens is the ingress of his 
sovereign [the state], who is bound to protect him in his set- 
tlement. . . . He is not responsible to any of the co-sovereigns 
for the nature of his property." -^ 

The North argues for the Proviso (Webster, Aug. 12, 1848). 
" We certainly do not prevent them [Southerners] from going 
into these territories with what is in general law called prop- 
erty. But these States have by their local laws created a 
pioperty in persons, and they cannot carry these local laws 



24. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, X^'T. 298. 

25. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XVI, 85-8i 

26. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe, XVI, App. 246. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 409 

with them. . . . No man can be held as a slave, except the 
local law shall accompany him." ^^ 

4. ATTEMPTS AT SETTLEMENT, 1846-1850 

a. By extending the line 36'' 30' to the Pacific: 

The Soutlicrn offer; Some Northern Democrats for (The 
House, Febr. 15, 1847). "The House again resolved itself 
into a Committee of the Whole . . . and resumed the consid- 
eration of the bill appropriating three millions of dollars to 
enable the president to enter upon negotiations for the restora- 
tion of peace with Mexico. . . . Mr. Hamlin [Me. Dem.] 
. . . insisted in his motion of the proviso, as follows : Provided, 
further, That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude in any territory on the continent of America which 
shall hereafter be acquired by or annexed to the United States 
by virtue of this appropriation, or in any other manner what- 
e\er, except for crimes. . . . Mr. Douglas [111. Dem.] moved 
to amend the amendment by . . . inserting. That there shall 
neither be slavery nor involuntary servitude in any territory 
acquired under this act, or as a result of the existing war with 
Mexico, which lies north of 36° 30' north latitude, commonly 
known as the Missouri Compromise line, otherwise than in the 
punishment of crimes. . . . The question upon Mr. Douglas's 
amendment was taken . . . ; and it was rejected : Ayes 82, 
noes 109. . . . The question then recurring on the adoption of 
the proviso as moved by Mr. Hamlin, it was carried; ayes 110, 
noes 89." 

Proposal to apply the Line to Oregon. Oregon bill, Jan. 
11, 1847. " Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the inhabi- 
tants of the said territory shall be entitled to enjoy all . . . 
the rights . . . secured to the people of the territory of the 
United States northwest of the Ohio river, by the articles of 
compact, contained in the ordinance of [1787] ; and shall be 
subject to all the conditions and restrictions, and prohibitions 
in said articles of compact imposed upon the people of said 
territory. Jan. 12, Mr. Burt [S. C] moved to amend . . . 



27. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe, XVII, 1077. 



410 AMERICAN HISTORY 

by adding the following words : Inasmuch as the whole of the 
said territory lies north of 36° 30' north latitude, known as the 
Missouri Compromise. Jan. 15, The vote on the amendment 
was taken: yeas 82, nays 113. [No action taken in Senate.]"-* 

Mr. Davis (Miss.), Jan. 23, 1848. "... Provided, That 
nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to author- 
ize the prohibition of domestic slavery in said territory whilst 
it remains in the condition of a territory of the United States." -** 

Mr. Kaufman (Texas). "I voted for the restriction of 
slavery in Oregon, because all Oregon lies north of 36VS de- 
grees north latitude, ... I voted for it because, in the reso- 
lutions of annexation admitting Texas, the Missouri Compro- 
mise line was inserted and applied to Texas, . . . But I now 
state . . . that I gave only one vote to prohibit slavery in 
Oregon, and that vote was given before the Wilmot Proviso 
was moved in this House : no man had heard of the Wilmot 
Proviso when I gave that vote. I never have voted against 
slavery in Oregon since the Wilmot proviso was introduced 
into and passed by this House. I never will vote to exclude 
slavery from Oregpn or any other territory of the United States 
as long as I see the North determined to force down upon the 
South the Wilmot proviso. I have no idea of the South ob- 
serving the Missouri Compromise while the North repudiates 
it. And I never should have given the vote I did, if I could 
have foreseen the introduction and passage of the Wilmot pro- 
vison by this House. But I will again vote for restricting 
slavery in Oregon, if the North will agree to extend the Mis- 
souri compromise line so as to apply to the Territories of Cali- 
fornia and New Mexico. And this I understand to be the 
universal sentiment of the South. [The House passed the bill 
Aug. 2, 1848, with the Ordinance of 1787 incorporated in sub- 
stance]. Yeas 129. nays 71. [Finally accepted by the Senate, 
Aug. 12] Yeas 29, nays 25." ^o 



28. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe, XVI, 166, 170, 187. 

29. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe, XVII, 871. 

30. Blair and Rives, Cong. Globe, XVII, 1013. 



SLAVERY AXD THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 411 

b. By doctrine of Non-intervention: 

TJic Doctrine foriniilatcd. 

Dickinson (N. Y.) proposed the following: '^ Resolved, That 
in organizing a territorial government for territory belonging 
to the United States, the principles of self-government upon 
which our federative system rests will he best promoted, . . . 
by leaving all questions concerning the domestic policy therein 
to the legislatures chosen by the people thereof. 

"As a substitute . . . the Senator from Florida [Mr. Yulee] 
submitted the following, . . . : Resohrd, That the territory 
belonging to or which may be acquired l)y the United States 
is the common property of the Union, and the sovereignty over 
the same vests in the people of the several States comprising the 
Union. Rcsoli'ed, That the Federal Government has no dele- 
gated authority, nor the territorial community any inherent 
right, to exercise any legislative power within the said terri- 
tories, by which the equal right of all the citizens of the United 
States to acquire and enjoy any part of the common property 
may be imjuured. ..." •'' 

c. By leaving decision to the Supreme Court: 

Report of a Senate Select Committee (Clayton, Del., Jan. 
19, 1848). '"I The conunittee] thought that if Oregon, which 
no one imagines can ever be slaveholding, could be organized 
as the people of that Territory desired, by the temporary adop- 
tion of their present laws interdicting . . . slavery till the 
Territorial Legislature . . . could enact some law on the sub- 
ject, . . . and after thus disposing of the question, so far as 
ir relates to Oregon, the Territories of California and New 
Mexico could be organized in the same bill, . . . but without 
the power to legislate on the subject of slavery; . . , and rest- 
ing the right to introduce or prohibit slavery in those two Ter- 
ritories on the Constitution, as the same shall be expounded by 
the judges, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of 
the United States. . . . But this bill resolves the whole ques- 
tion between the North and South, into a constitutional and a 
judicial question. . . . We offer no bill to introduce slavery 



31. Blaii- ana Rives, Cong. Globe, XVII. 250. 



412 AMERICAN HISTORY 

by Congressional enactment into any free territory. If, as the 
South contends, the Constitution gives the right to carry their 
slaves there, they will maintain that right. If, as the North 
contends, the Constitution confers no such right, they will vin- 
dicate their claim. ..." 

" Mr. Niles [Conn.] said the main question had been the 
question of the power of Congress to interfere with the question 
of slavery. He wished to know if the Senator [Clayton, Del.] 
regarded this bill as taking the affirmative side of this ques- 
tion. . . . 

Mr. Clayton replied that this bill neither affirms nor dis- 
affirms this power, and herein consists the compromise. . . . ' ^~ 

d. By forming all territory into States: 

President Taylor in Message (Jan. 23, 1850). "... Under 
these circumstances [danger of sectional struggle over institu- 
tions of territories] I thought, and still think, that it was my 
duty to endeavor to put it in the power of Congress, by the 
admission of California and New Mexico as States, to remove 
all occasion for the unnecessary agitation of the public mind." ^^ 

e. The Question already settled by law of Mexico: 

Webster (Mar. 7, 1850). ''Now, as to California and New 
Mexico, I hold slavery to be excluded from those territories by 
a law even superior to that which admits and sanctions it in 
Texas. — I mean the law of nature — . . . That law settles for- 
ever, with a strength beyond all terms of human enactment, 
that slavery cannot exist in California or New Mexico. . . . 
And ... if ... a law were now before us, to provide a territorial 
government for New Mexico, I would not vote to put any pro- 
hibition into it whatever. The use of such a prohibition would 
be idle, as it respects any effect it would have upon the terri- 
tory; and I would not take pains to reaffirm an ordinance of 
nature, nor to reenact the will of God. And I would put in 
no Wilmot proviso, for the purpose of a taunt or a reproach 



32. Blair and Rives, Congressional Globe, XVIII, 950. 

33. Richardson, Messages and Papers, V, 28. 



SLA\'ERV AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 413 

... to wound the pride, even whether a just pride, a rational 
pride, or an irrational pride — to wound the pride of the gen- 
tlemen who belong to the Southern States. . . ." ^* 

5. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 
a. The Terms set forth: 

The Measure introduced into the Senate (Clay, Jan. 29, 
1850). "It being desirable for the peace, concord, and har- 
mony of the Union of these States, to settle and adjust amicably 
all existing questions of controversy between them, arising out 
of the institution of slavery, upon a fair, equitable, and just 
basis: Therefore 1st, Resolved, That California . . . ought 
... to be admitted [to statehood] without the imposition by 
Congress of any restriction in respect to the exclusion or intro- 
duction of slavery. . . . 2nd. Resolz'ed, That as slavery does 
not exist by law, and is not likely to be introduced into any of 
the territory acquired by the United States from the Republic 
of Mexico, it is inexpedient for Congress to provide by law 
either for its introduction into or exclusion from any part of 
the said territory: . . . 3 & 4. [Relate to boundary of Texas]. 
5th. Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish slavery, in the 
District of Columbia. . . . 6th. Resolved. That it is expedient 
to prohibit within the District the slave-trade. . . . 7th. Re- 
solved, That more effective provision ought to be made by law 
for the restitution [of escaped slaves]. 8th. Resolved, That 
Congress has no power to prohibit or obstruct the trade in 
slaves between the slave-holding States; ..." 

The Debate in Congress. Foote (Miss.), Jan. 29, 1850. 
" 8th. If all other questions concerning slavery can be satis- 
factorily adjusted, I see no objection to admitting all California 
above the line 36° 30' into the Union; provided another new 
slave State can be laid off within the present limits of Texas, 
so as to keep the present equiponderance between the slave and 
the free States of the Union : and provided, further, all this is 
done by way of compromise, and in order to save the Union. 

" 35 



34. Blair and Rives, Congressional Globe. XXI, 481. 

35. Benton, Abridgment of Debates. XVI, 391-393. 



414 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Calhoun (his last speech). March 4, 1850. "I have, Sena- 
tors, believed from the first, that the agitation of the subject 
of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and efifective 
measure, end in disunion, . . . The agitation has been per- 
mitted to proceed . . . until it has reached a period when it can no 
longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. . . . 
One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long- 
continued agitation of the slave question on the part of the 
North. . . . There is another. . . . It is to be found in the 
fact, that the equilibrium between the two sections in the 
government . . . has been destroyed. . . . Had this destruc- 
tion been the operation of time, without the interference of 
government, the South would have had no reason to complain ; 
but such was not the fact. It was caused by the legislation of 
this government. . . . It is a great mistake to suppose that 
disunion can be effected by a single blow. . . . Disunion must 
be the work of time. . . . The cords that bind the States to- 
gether are not only many, but various in character. Among 
them some are . . . ecclesiastical ; some political ; others social. 
. . . The first of these cords which snapped . . . was that of 
the powerful Methodist Episcopal Church. . . . The next 
cord that snapped was that of the Baptists. . . . How can 
the Union be saved ? There is but one way . . . and that is 
by a full and final settlement, on the principles of justice, of 
all the questions at issue between the two sections. . . . But 
can this be done ? Yes, easily ; not by the weaker party . . . , 
but by the stronger. The North has only to will it, to do jus- 
tice, and perform her duty, in order to accomplish it — to do 
justice by conceding to the South an equal right in the acquired 
territory. . . . Having faithfully done my duty to the best of 
my ability, both to the Union, and to my section . . . , I shall 
have the consolation, let what will come, that I am free from 
all responsibility." ^^ 

Webster ("The Constitution and the Union"), March 7, 
1850. " I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, 
nor as a Northern man, but as an American. . . . The im- 
prisoned winds are let loose. The East, the North, and the 



36. J. S. Jenkins, Life of Calhoun, parts of 415-439. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 415 

stormy South combine to throw the whole sea into commotion, to 
toss its billows to the skies, and disclose its profoundest depths. 
. . . And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the pos- 
sibility or utility of secession, ... let us come out into the 
light of day; let us enjoy the fresh air of Liberty and Union. 
. . . Never did there devolve on any generation of men higher 
trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preservation of this 
Constitution and the harmony and peace of all who are des- 
tined to live under it. . . . In all its history it has been benefi- 
cent ; it has trodden down no man's liberty ; it has crushed no 
State. . . ."3" 

Cass (Mich.), March 12. "Why, sir, the whole doctrine of 
equal rights and of non-intervention is taken away by it [the 
Missouri line] at once. Why, sir, putting out of view the con- 
stitutional objections to such an arrangement, it gives the South 
nothing, while it prohibits the people north of 36° 30' from 
exercising their own will upon the subject. The true doctrine 
of non-intervention leaves the whole question to the people, 
and does not divide their right by a parallel of latitude. . . . 

Foote (Miss.). "... I ask nothing but the doctrine of 
non-intervention." 

Cass (Mich.). "The Missouri Compromise line is, there- 
fore, as much out of the question as the Wilmot Proviso. . . ." ^s 

Davis (Miss.), March 14. "I will agree to the drawing 
of the line 36° 30' through the territories acquired from Mexico, 
with this condition, that in the same degree as slavery is pro- 
hibited north of that line, it shall be permitted to enter south 
of the line ; and that the States which may be admitted into the 
Union, shall come in under such Constitutions as they think 
proper to form. [After some seven months of debate, the prin- 
ciples set forth in Clay's resolutions were incorporated into 
separate bills and passed.]" ^'^ 



37. Works of Webster (edition 1860), V, 325, 365. 

38. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XVI, 439-440. 

39. Benton, Abridgment of Debates of Congress, XVI, 454. 



416 AMERICAN HISTORY 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What prediction made by Calhoun in regard to ulti- 
mate fate of the Union? (2) What claim made by him in 
regard to slavery? (3) What was the attitude of the radical 
abolitionists toward the Union? (4) What arguments made 
for the annexation of Texas? (5) In what ways was the an- 
nexation connected with slavery? (6) What arguments made 
against annexation? (7) How far was it a sectional ques- 
tion? (8) What relationship do you find between the Texan 
and the Oregon questions? (9) How may territory be annexed, 
and how was Texas annexed? (10) What was the main issue 
in organization of the Oregon territory? (11) What question 
in regard to its boundary, how settled? (12) Who was Wil- 
mot, and what was the so-called Wilmot Proviso? (13) Who 
were for and who against the Proviso? (14) What theory was 
set forth by the South to meet the Wilmot Proviso? (15) What 
was the Northern answer to the Southern claim? (16) What 
were Clay's terms of compromise? (17) What attitude of 
radicals of North and South to his proposals? (18) Name the 
various suggestions made in regard to the basis of a compro- 
mise? (19) What was Webster's claim in regard to slavery 
in the territory acquired from Mexico? (20) What doctrine 
was it asserted was at the basis of the compromise of 1850? 

II. (1) What three important theories were upheld during" 
the discussions, 1846-1850, in regard to the authority to control 
the institutions of the territories? (2) Write a paper on the 
Oregon struggle. (3) Was the struggle over annexation and 
control of territorial institutions in the main a party or sectional 
question ? 

III. (1) Were all agreed on the interpretation of the phrase 
"Non-intervention''? (2) What interpretations put on Web- 
ster's "Seventh of March" speech 1850? (3) Was the offer 
of the South to extend the line 36° 30' to the Pacific one the 
North ought to have accepted? (4) Was there danger of Civil 
War and destruction of the Union in 1850, without Clay's 
compromise? 

Text-Book References. — Adams and Trent. 290-312; Ashley, 
311-315, 325-329. 339-354; Channing, 409-436; Hart, 353-377; 
James and Sanford, 327-339; MacDonald's Johnston [ed. 1905], 
300-308, 311-331; McLaughlin, 348-382; McMaster, 320-343; 
Montgomery [Revised ed.], 367-402; Thomas [ed. 1903], 275- 
281, 285-303. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 417 

SECTION II 

STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY IN THE NATION, 1850-1860 

The ""finality years," 1850-1854, seemed to prove that 
the nation might Hve "half-slave and half-free." Yet there 
were signs that it was only a calm before the storm. The 
fugitive slave law was nullified in the North, thus produ- 
cing irritation in the South. But this settlement of 1850, 
whether real or only apparent, was overwhelmed in the dis- 
cussion and results that grew out of the Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill. The Republican party came into existence as a pro- 
test, and pledged to the policy of non-extension of slavery, 
a policy that meant to Lincoln an-d to Southern leaders alike 
to put slavery in process of gradual extinction. It was also 
soon seen that the doctrines of non-intervention meant one 
thing to Douglas and the Northern Democrats, and another 
to their "Southern brethren, yet in 1856 the Democratic party 
managed to hold together and win the election. It was 
soon recognized by the tw^o sections that the struggle had 
become one to control the nation. The Republicans 
charged, and probably believed, that the Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill, the Dred Scot decision, and Douglas's "Don't care 
policy" were parts of a conspiracy to nationalize slavery. 
The South felt that the triumph of the "non-extension pol- 
icy" marked the beginning of the end, hence Davis, speak- 
ing for the South, demanded not only the right to enter 
the territories with its slaves, but to be protected in th'S 
right by Congressional action. To this demand Douglas and 
his friends who held to the "territorial popular sovereign- 
ty" doctrine refused to yield. Thus the North and the 
South stood in open opposition. The North a unit in its 
resistance to the demands of the South, but not yet har- 
monized in regard to the means of resistance. The South 
a unit in its theory, but not in regard to the policy of action. 
The winter of 1860-1861 was emplo\ed in trying to find 



418 AMERICAN HISTORY 

means to harmonize the moderates, but all failing, the firing 
on Sumter unified the two sections, and the dreadful war 
between brother and brother was on, only to be ended with 
the utter exhaustion of the South, in 1865. 

1. THE FINALITY YEARS, 1850-1854 
a. Opinions regarding Finality of the Compromise of 1850: 

Chase (Ohio Free Soil man, Febr. 22, 1851). " But I repeat 
I was quite willing that the public mind of the country should 
receive these measures, judge them, and decide upon them. I 
believed then, and I believe now, that the ultimate judg- 
ment of the country will be pronounced against them. ... I 
cannot doubt that upon a full and thorough examination they 
will receive the public condemnation. ..." 

Downs (La. Dem., Feb. 24, 1851). "My friend from Mis- 
sissippi said that the measures of compromise had been adopted 
at the last session to prevent the danger of disunion, but had 
not prevented it. I differ from him altogether on that point. 
. . . Was there not [then] danger of disunion ? . . . How is 
it now ? At this time last year thirteen or fourteen States 
were pledged, in certain contingencies, to take measures to dis- 
solve this Union, and 1 believe they would have done so if 
those measures had been imposed on them." 

Daz'is (Miss. Dem.). ". . .1 have not proposed or fore- 
told a dissolution of the Union. When I become convinced 
that this Union depends for its preservation on the measures 
which politicians may suggest. ... I shall look upon its days 
as numbered. . . . This Union is held together by historical 
associations and national pride. It is held together by mu- 
tual attachments and common interests. It is held together 
by social links, from the fact that fathers and sons, mothers and 
daughters, brothers and sisters, and boyhood friends,' live in 
extreme ends of the Union. ... I believe that but for it [the 
Compromise of 1850] the Union would have been more secure 
than it is at present. I find now excitement in both, instead of 
but one section of the Union." ^ 



1. Rives, Congressional Globe, XXIII, 308, 330. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 419 

b. Party Platforms approve Compromise: 

Democrats (1852). '". . . Resolved. That Congress has no 
power, under the Constitution, to interfere with or control the 
domestic institutions of the several States, . . . 

Resolved, That . . . the Democratic party of the Union, 
standing on this national platform, will abide by, and adhere 
to, a faithful execution of the acts known as the ' Compromise ' 
measures settled by the last Congress, . . . 

Resolved. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts 
at renewing, in Congress or out of it, the agitation of the 
slavery question. ..." 

Whigs (1852). "Eighth. That the series of acts of the 
Thirty-Second Congress, the act known as the Fugitive Slave 
Law included, are received and acquiesced in by the Whig 
party . . . as a settlement in principle and substance of the 
dangerous and exciting question which they embrace ; . . . 
and we deprecate all further agitation of the question thus 
settled, as dangerous to our peace. . . . " - 

President Pierce's First Annual Message (Dec, 1853). 
"... But notwithstanding differences of opinion and sentiment 
which then [1850] existed . . . the acquiescence of distin- 
guished citizens, whose devotion to the Union can never be 
doubted, has given renewed vigor to our institutions, and re- 
stored a sense of repose and security to the public mind 
throughout the confederacy. That this repose is to suffer no 
shock during my official term, if I have the power to avert it, 
those who placed me here may be assured. . . ."^ 

2. THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL, 1854 
a. Its terms and basis: 

Douglas claims to apply in it the Principles of the Compro- 
mise of i8§o (Report, Jan. 4. 1854). "... In the judgment of 
your committee, those [Compromise] measures [of 1850] were 
intended to have a far more comprehensive and enduring effect 
than the mere adjustment of the difficulties arising out of the 
recent acquisition of Mexican territory. They were designed 



2. Cited in Stanwood, History of the Presidency, 249, 252. 

3. Richardson, Messages and Papers, \', 222. 



420 AMERICAN HISTORY 

to establish certain great principles, which would not only fur- 
nish adequate remedies for existing evils, but, in all time to 
come, avoid the perils of a similar agitation, by withdrawing 
the question of slavery from the halls of Congress . . . [and 
remitting it to the people of the States and territories who are] 
alone responsible for its consequences. . . . [I]t is apparent 
that the compromise measures of 1850 rest upon the following 
propositions. — First: That all questions pertaining to slavery 
in the territories and in the new States to be formed therefrom, 
are to, be left to the decision of the people residing therein, by 
their appropriate representatives, to be chosen .by them for that 
purpose. 

Second: That ' all cases involving title to slaves ' and ' ques- 
tions of personal freedom ' are referred to the adjudication 
of the local tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

Third: That the provisions of the Constitution . . .in re- 
spect to fugitives from service, is [are] to be carried into faith- 
ful execution in all organized territories the same as in the 
States." 

The Nebraska Bill (Jan. 10, 1854). "Sec. I. [Boundaries 
of Nebraska] . 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted . . . That the Con- 
stitution, and all laws of the United States which are not 
locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within 
the said Territory as elsewhere . . . except the eighth section 
of [the Missouri act] . . . which, being inconsistent with the 
principle of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the 
States and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850. 
commonly called the Compromise Measures, is hereby declared 
inoperative and void : it being the true intent of this act not to 
legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it 
therefrom. l)ut to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form 
and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way. sub- 
ject only to the Constitution of the United States: Fro- 
7'ided ..."-• 



4. Quoted ill MacDDiiald. Select Documents. 397-401. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 421 

Pro-Slavery and Anti-Shwcry Amendments. 

Dixon (Ky.). Jan. 16. " Sec. 22. And be it further enacted, 
That the [Missouri compromise Hue] shall not be so construed 
as to apply to the Territory contemplated by this act, or to any 
other territory of the United States : but that the citizens of 
the several States or Territories shall be at liberty to take and 
hold their slaves within any of the Territories . . . , or of the 
States to be formed therefrom, as if the said act, entitled as 
aforesaid. . . . had never been passed." ^' 

Sumner (Mass.). Jan. 17. Gave notice that ". . .he 
would introduce the following amendment: Provided, That noth- 
ing herein contained shall be construed to abrogate or in any 
way contravene the act of March 6, 1820. ..." 

Independent Democrats charge breach of Faith (Jan. 23, 
1854) . "... At the present session a new Nebraska bill has been 
reported by the Senate Committee on Territories, which should 
it unhappily receive the sanction of Congress, will open all the 
unorganized territory of the Union to the ingress of slavery. 
We arraign the bill as a gross violation of a sacred pledge; 
as a criminal betrayal of precious rights ; as part and parcel 
of an atrocious plot to exclude from a vast unoccupied region 
immigrants from the Old World, and free laborers from our 
own States and convert it into a dreary region of despotism, 
inhabited by masters and slaves. . . . These acts [New Mex- 
ico and Utah, 1850] were never supposed [as claimed in bill] 
to abrogate or touch the existing exclusion of slavery from 
what is now called Nebraska. ... In 1820 the Slave States 
said to the free states ' Admit ^Missouri with slavery, and re- 
frain from positive exclusion of slavery south of 36° 30', and 
we will join you in perpetual exclusion north of that line.' 
The free States consented. In 1854 the slave States say to the 
free States, 'Missouri is admitted: no prohibition of slavery 
south of 36° 30' has been attempted; we have received the full 
consideration of our agreement; no more is to be gained by ad- 
herence to it on our part; we therefore propose to cancel the 
compact." If this be not Punic faith, what is it .-' " " 



5. Rives, Congressional (Unbe, 2S, Pt. I, 17.S, 1?6. 

6. Rives. Congressional Clobc, 28, Pt. I, 281-282. 



422 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Amendment of Douglas: Tzvo Territories; Reasons (Jan. 
23). Douglas. "There are two delegates here [from Nebr. 
Ter.]. They have petitioned ns to make two Territories instead 
of one, dividing them by the fourtieth parallel of north lati- 
tude — the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. Upon consulting 
with the delegates from Iowa, I find that they think that their 
local interests, as well as the interests of the Territory, require 
that the proposed territory of Nebraska should be divided into 
two Territories, and the people ought to have two .delegates. 
So far as I have been able to consult the Missouri delegation, 
they are of the same opinion. . . .''' 

Dodge (la. Dem., Febr. 25). "Originally I favored the 
organization of one Territory ; but representation from our 
constituents, and a more critical examination of the subject — 
having an eye to the systems of internal improvements which 
nnist be adopted by the people of Nebraska and Kansas to de- 
velop their resources — satisfied my colleague . . . and myself 
that the great interests of the whole country, and especially of 
our State, demand that we should support the proposition for 
the establishment of two territories ; otherwise the seat of gov- 
ernment and leading thoroughfares must have all fallen south 
of Iowa." 

Perkins (N. Y.), May 10. "It is with the object of car- 
rying slavery into the Southern territory that the bill has pro- 
vided for the organization of two territories. I defy any man 
to assign any other rational reason, ..." 

Henn (la.), May 20. " T might here meet the objections 
that have Ijeen raised to the organization of two territories 
instead of one. The unjust charge has been made, on this floor, 
by several, that it was the scheme of southern men whereby one 
of the States to be formed out of these Territories was to be a 
slave State. . . ." * 

b. Effects of Kansas-Nebraska Bill: 

Fro- and Anti-Slavery emigration to Kansas. 
New England Aid Society, 1854. "It was evident that a 
large emigration would naturallv flow into Kansas from the 



7. Rives, Congressional Globe. 28. Pt. 1, 221. 

8. Rives, Congressional Globe, 29. 382, 645, 886. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 423 

North and East ; and, to enable the emigrant to reach his des- 
tination easily and cheaply, an association was formed [1854]. 
. . . The first of August, 1854, a party of about thirty settlers, 
chiefly from New England, arrived in the territory and set- 
tled at Lawrence. . . ." ^ 

Missourians (Testimony of Col. John Scott, 1855). "I was 
present at the election, March 30, 1855, in Burr Oak precinct 
... in this Territory. I saw many Missourians there. . . . 
I do not think the Missourians would ever have got excited about 
Kansas, but for the rumors concerning eastern emigrants. . . . 
T do not think I would have suggested to any one in Missouri 
the forming of societies in Missouri but for these eastern 
societies. . . . " ''■'' 

Rcorgani::ation of Parties. "When President Pierce was 
inaugurated, on the fourth of March, 1853, the pride and power 
of the Democratic party seemed to be at their flood. ... In 
the beginning the session [of Congress] gave promise of a 
quiet one. but on Jan. 23, the precious repose of the country 
. . . was rudely shocked by the proposition of Senator Douglas 
to repeal the Missouri Compromise. . . . After a verv exciting 
debate, which lasted four months, the measure finally became 
a law. May 30th, 1854. ... 

On all sides the situation was exceedingly critical. . . . 
The Whigs, in their now practically disbanded condition were 
fiee to act as they saw fit, . . . Multitudes of Democrats- w^ere 
equally indignant, and were quite ready to join hands with the 
Whigs in branding slavery wnth a violation of its plighted faith. 
. . . The situation was complicated by two other political ele- 
ments. One of thefc was Temperance. . . . The other ele- 
ment . . . took the name of the Know-Nothing party. It was 
a secret, oath-bound political order, and its demand was the 
proscription of catholics and a probation of 21 years for the 
foreigner . . . for suffrage. . . . Such w-ere the elements 
which mingled and commingled in the political ferment of 1854, 
and out of which an anti-slavery party was to be evolved. . . . 
The honor of taking the first step in the formation of the 



9. Cited in Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, IV', 104105. 

10. Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, IV, 110-114. 



424 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Republican party belongs to Michigan . . . when the Whigs 
and Free Soilers . . . met [July 13] . . . and adopted the 
name Republican. . . .As chairman of the committee on or- 
ganization, I had the honor to report the plan of action . . . 
providing for . . . the holding of a National Convention in 
Philadelphia on the 17th of June, [1856] for the nomination 
of candidates for President. . . .'"'^ 

Bloody Kansas: Civil JVar (Account by Thos. H. Gladstone, 
an English Traveller). "... Mewed as the strong-hold of the 
P>ee-State party, it [Lawrence] was made the point of attack 
during what was called 'the Wakarusa War ' in the winter of 
1855. Before the termination of this its first siege, . . . the 
inhabitants of Lawrence proceeded to fortify their town by the 
erection of four or five circular earthworks, thrown up about 
seven feet in height, and measuring a hundred feet in diameter. 
These were connected with long lines of earthwork entrench- 
ments, rifle pits, . . . The inhabitants were also placed under arms, 
. . . under the generalship of Robinson and Lane. . . . The 
pacifications . . . afforded only a temporary lull. . . . The 
Missourians did not conceal that they were organizing another 
invasion, which should effectually ' wipe out Lawrence,' and 
win Kansas for slavery. ... At length the day approached 
when Lawrence was to fall [May 21, 1856]. Accordingly, in 
the afternoon, Jones rode into Lawrence at the head of twenty 
or more men, mounted and armed, and placed himself in front 
of the Free-State Hotel, demanding of General Pomeroy the 
surrender of all arms, [Five minutes time given]. General 
Pomeroy gave up their brass howitzer and some small pieces, 
. . . The newspaper offices were the first object of attack. . . . 
From the printing offices they went to the hotel. . . . By this 
time four cannon had been l)rought opposite the hotel, and, 
under Atchison's command, they began to batter down the 
building. . . . The sack of Lawrence occupied the remainder 
of the afternoon. . . . Life was fortunately not taken, as the 
inhabitants of Lawrence disappointed their invaders of a fight, 
by offering no resistance. . . ."^■- 



11. Geo. VV. Julian. Political Recollection.s, 134-150. 

12. Cited in Hart, American History Told by Contemporaries, I\', 114-118. 



SLAVERY AXD THE SECTIONAL STRUG(iLE 425 

Rival Coiistitittious foniied. 

The Topeka (Oct. 25, 1855). "Art. 1, Sec. 6. There shall 
be no Slavery in this State, nor involuntary servitude, unless 
for the punishment of crime." 

The Lecompton (Nov. 3, 1857). "Art. VH. Slavery. Sec. 
1. The right of property is before and higher than any consti- 
tutional sanction, and the right of the owner of a slave to 
such slave and its increase is the same and as inviolable as the 
right of the owner of any property whatever. 

Sec. 2. The legislature shall have no power to pass laws 
for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of the own- 
ers, or without paying the owners . . . for the slaves so eman- 
cipated." ^'' 

c. Kansas Question in Congress: 

Toombs (Go.) frcsciits a coiiif^romisc plan (June 23, 1856). 
" I give notice that, on tomorrow, I shall introduce a bill to 
take a census of the inhabitants of Kansas Territory, secure 
the integrity of the ballot box therein, and authorize the white 
male inhabitants ... to elect a convention to form a State 
government for admission into the Union. ... I propose, in 
the second place, to preserve and protect the integrity of the 
ballot box. This measure provides for the appointment of five 
commissioners, to be selected by the President . . . , who 
shall cause this enumeration to be made. The object of the 
enumeration is two-fold: (1) for the proper apportionment of 
representation in the convention. . . . and (2) in order that 
we may get a registry of the real bona fide inhabitants of the 
Territory." 

Hale (iV. H.) comments on plan and issue. " I take this 
occasion to say, that the bill, as a whole, does great credit to 
magnanimity, the patriotism, and to the sense of justice of the 
honorable senator [Mr. Toombs] who introduced it. ... I 
think the bill is almost unexceptionable; and if it could be put 
in the hands of agents who would carry it out faithfully, . . . 
it would be less exceptionable than it now appears to be ; but 



13. Wilder, The .\iinals of Kansas. 74, 140. 



426 AMERICAN HISTORY 

you will perceive that it is committed to the present administra- 
tion to carry it out; and [its] action . . . has not been such 
as to inspire confidence in me." ^* 

Douglas refuses to support the Lecompton Constitution; 
breaks with administration. " Thus, if the President be right 
in saying that by the Nebraska Bill the Slavery question must 
be submitted to the people, it follows inevitably that every other 
clause of the Constitution must also be submitted to the peo- 
ple. ... I arrive at the conclusion that the principles enun- 
ciated ... by the President . . . require us . . . to send this 
whole question back to the people of Kansas, and enable them 
to say whether or not the Constitution . . . meets their appro- 
bation. . . . Ignore Lecompton, ignore Topeka ; treat both 
those party movements as irregular and void ; pass a fair bill — 
. . . : have a fair election — and you will have peace in the 
Democratic party, and peace throughout the country, in ninety 
days. . . . 

March 22. Douglas's closing speech. Sir, we have heard 
the argument over and over again that the Lecompton Con- 
vention were justified in withholding the Constitution from sub- 
mission to the people, for the reason that it would have been 
voted down. . . . That is an admission that this Constitution 
is not the act and deed of the people of Kansas ; . . . I ask 
. . . where is your right ... to force a Constitution .upon 
an unwilling people ? . . . O ! but we are told it is an admin- 
istrative measure. . . . does it therefore follow that it is a 
party measure ? . . . I do not recognize the right of the 
President ... to tell me my duty in the Senate Chamber. 
. . . For my own part, ... I intend to vote, speak, and act 
according to my own sense of duty. ... If standing firmly 
by my principles, I shall be driven into private life, it is a fate 
that has no terrors for me. ..." ^^' 

Position of Parties over Kansas (1856). 

Democratic platform. "Resolved (1) That Congress has 
no power under the Constitution to interfere with or control 
the domestic institutions of the several States. . . . 



14. Rives, Congressional Globe, 1st Ses. 34th Cong., 1439, 1579. 

15. Sheahan, Life of Douglas, 316-353. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 427 

2. That the foregoing proposition covers and was intended 
to embrace the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress; 
and therefore the Democratic party . . . will abide by . . . 
the acts known as the Compromise measures settled by Con- 
gress in 1850 : . . . 

3. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at re- 
newing . . . the agitation of the slavery question. . . . 
[Again] Resokrd, 1, That . . . repudiating all sectional parties 
and platforms concerning domestic slavery . . . the American 
Democracy recognize and adopt the principles contained in 
the organic laws establishing the Territories of Kansas and 
Nebraska as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the 
' slavery question ' upon which the great national idea of the 
people of this whole country can repose in its determined con- 
servatism of the Union — Non-intervention by Congress with 
Slavery in State and Territory, . . . 

3. That by the uniform application of this Democratic prin- 
ciple to the organization of territories and to the admission of 
new states, with or without domestic slavery, as they may elect, 
the equal rights of all the States will be preserved. . . ."^^ 

Whig Platform. " Resolved, That all who revere the Con- 
stitution and the Union must look with alarm at the parties in 
the field . . . — one claiming only to represent sixteen North- 
ern States, and the other appealing mainly to the passions and 
prejudices of the Southern States. ..." 

Republican Platform. " This convention of delegates . . . 
without regard to past political differences or divisions, who 
are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, . . . 
to the extension of slavery into free territory, in favor of 
admitting Kansas as a free State, ... do resolve as follows : 
. . . Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress 
sovereign power over the territories . . . , and that in the 
exercise of this power it is both the right and the duty of 
Congress to prohibit in the territories . . . slavery." ^^ 



16. MeKee, National Conventions, etc., 91-92. 

17. McKee, National Conventions, etc., 95, 97-98. 



428 AMERICAN HISTORY 

d. The Dred Scott Decision and Opinions: 

Lincoln's continents (June 26, 1857). "And now as to the 
Dred Scott decision. That decision declares two propositions — 
first, that a negro cannot sue in the United States courts ; and, 
secondly, that Congress cannot prohibit slavery in the Terri- 
tories. It was made by a divided court, . . . The Chief Justice . . . 
assumes, as a fact, that the pubhc estimate of the black man 
is more favorable now than in the days of the Revolution. 
This assumption is a mistake. In some trifling particulars the 
condition of that race has been ameliorated ; but as a whole 
. . . the change ... is decidedly the other way ; and their 
ultimate destiny has never appeared so hopeless as in the last 
three or four years. . . ."^'* (Ji-i'y 17, 1758). "... Al- 
though I have ever been opposed to slavery, I rested | till 1854] 
in the hope and belief that it was in the course of ultimate 
extinction. For that reason it had been a minor question with 
me. . . . But upon that event [repeal of Missouri Compro- 
mise], I became convinced that either I had been resting in 
a delusion, or the institution was being placed on a new basis 
— a basis for making it perpetual, national, and universal. . . . 
One more point. ... I expressed my belief in the existence 
of a conspiracy to perpetuate and nationalize slavery. . . . 
I charged that the people had been deceived into carrying the 
last presidential election [for the Democrats], by the impres- 
sion that the people of the Territories might exclude slavery 
it they chose, when it was known in advance by the conspira- 
tors, that the court was to decide that neither Congress nor the 
people could so exclude slavery. . . ." '^^ 

Sezvard (Oct. 25, 1858). "... Shall I tell you what 
this collision [between the free and slave labor systems] means? 
They who think it is accidental, unnecessary, the work of in- 
terested or fanatical agitators, and therefore ephemeral, mis- 
take the case altogether. It is an irrepressible conflict between 
enduring and opposing forces, and it means that the United 
States must and will, sooner or later, become either entirely 
a slaveholding nation, or entirelv a free-labor nation. . . . 



IS. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln, I. 228-230. 
19. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln, I, 268, 273. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 429 

In the field of federal politics, slavery . . . has at length 
made a stand, not merely to retain its original defensive posi- 
tion, but to extend its sway throughout the whole L^nion. . . . 
The plan of operations is this : By . . . threats of disunion, 
they will keep a majority ... in the senate, . . . Through 
that majority they will defeat, as best they can, the admission 
of free states, and secure the admission of slave states. Under 
the protection of the judiciary, they will, on the principle of 
the Dred Scott case, carry slavery into all the territories. . . . 
By the action of the president and senate, using the treaty- 
making power, they will annex foreign slaveholding States. In 
a favorable conjuncture they will induce Congress to repeal the 
act of 1808, which prohibits the foreign slave-trade, . . . 
When the free states shall be sufficiently demoralized to tol- 
erate these designs, they reasonably conclude that slavery will 
be accepted by these states themselves. . . . You will tell me 
that these fears are extravagant. ... I answer they are so, 
but they are so only because the designs of the slaveholders 
must and can be defeated. . . ."-" 

e. The Lincoln-Douglas Debate, 1858: 

The Frceport or "unfriendly legislation" doctrine (Aug. 27, 
1858). Douglas answers Lincoln: "The next question pro- 
pounded to me by ]\Ir. Lincoln is : Can the people of a Terri- 
tory in any lawful way, against any citizen of the L^nited States, 
exclude slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a 
State constitution ? I answer emphatically, . . . that in my 
opinion the people of a Territory can, by lawful means, exclude 
slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State 
constitution. ... It matters not what way the Supreme Court 
may hereafter decide as to the abstract question whether slavery 
may or may not go into a Territory under the Constitution, 
the people have the lawful means to introduce it or exclude it 
as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a day 
or an hour anywhere unless it is supported by local police 
regulations. Those police regulations can only be established 
by the local legislature, and if the people ate oppc^ed to slavery 



20. Baker, Works of Seward. IV, 292. 294-J05. 



430 . AMERICAN HISTORY 

they will elect representatives to that body who will by un- 
friendly legislation, effectually prevent the introduction of it 
into their midst. . . . Hence, no matter what the decision of 
the Supreme Court may be on that abstract question, still the 
right of the people to make a slave Territory or a free Ter- 
ritory is perfect and complete under the Nebraska liill." -^ 

f. The John Brown Raid into Virginia: 

Extracts from his Trial (Oct. 21, 1859). 

"Mr. VallandighaTii — Did you get up the expedition yourself ? 

Mr. Brown. I did. 

Mr. Mason. What was your object in coming? 

Mr. Brown. We came to free the slaves, and only that. 

[Question]. How many men in all had you? 

Mr. Brown. — I came to Virginia with eighteen men only, 
besides myself. 

Mr. Mason. How do you justify your acts? 

Mr. Brown. I think, my friend, you are guilty of a great 
wrong against God and humanity — I say it without wishing to 
be offensive — and it would be perfectly right for any one to 
interfere with you so far as to free those you willfully and 
wickedly hold in bondage. ... I think I did right, and that 
others will do right who interfere with you at any time and at 
all times. . . . 

Bystander. — Upon what principle do you justify your acts? 

Mr. Brown. Upon the golden rule. I pity the poor in bond- 
age that have none to help them ; that is why I am here ; not 
to gratify any personal animosity, revenge or vindictive feel- 
ing. It is my sympathy with the oppressed and the wronged, 
that are as good as you and as precious in the sight of God. 

Mr. Vallandigham. — Did you expect a general rising of the 
slaves in case of your success ? 

Mr. Brown. No, Sir; nor did I wish it; I expected to gather 
them up from time to time and set them free. . . . I wish to 
say, furthrr)norc. that you had better. — all you people at the 
South — prepare yourselves for a settlement of that question 
that must come up for settlement sooner than you are prepared 



21. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln, I, 315. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 431 

for it. The sooner you are prepared the better. You may dis- 
pose of me very easily . . . but this question is still to be 
settled — this negro question I mean; the end of that is not 
yet. . . ."^'^ 

Attitude toivard the Raid. 

Toombs (Ga.), Jan. 24. 1860. "Who is responsible for the 
treason, murder, and arson of J. Brown ? I have never known 
of his acts being approved, defended, or palliated, by any other 
person than a Republican. Thousands of them have done it and 
are now doing it. . . . They tell us they condemn his acts, but 
admire his heroism. . . . It is in vain, in face of these in- 
juries, to talk of peace, fraternity, and a common country. 
There is no peace; there is no fraternity; there is no common 
country. . . . My country is not common to the men who 
counsel the overthrow of her system by social and servile 
war. ..." 23 

Republican Platform, 1860. "... and we denounce the 
lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any state or 
territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest 
of crimes." -* 

The Abolitionists (W. L. Garrison, Jan. 27, 1860). "The 
sympathy and admiration now so widely felt for him prove how 
marvelous has been the change effected in public opinion during 
thirty years of moral agitation — a change so great, indeed, that 
whereas, ten years since, there were thousands who could not 
endure my lightest word of rebuke of the South, they can now 
easily swallow John Brown whole, and his rifle into the bar- 
gain. In firing his gun. he has merely told us what time of 
day it is. It is high noon, thank God ! " 

g. Congressional Intervention demanded: 

Resolutions of J. Davis (March 1. 1860). "4. Resolved, 
That neither Congress nor a Territorial legislature, whether by 
direct legislation or legislation of an indirect or unfriendly 
character, possesses power to annul or impair the constitutional 



22. Cited in Hart, Am. Hist. Told by Con., I\', 147-150. 

23. Rives. Cong. Globe, First Ses. 36th Cong., Pt. I, App., 92. 

24. McKee, National Conventions, etc., 1131 14. 



432 AMERICAN HISTORY 

right of any citizen ... to take his slave property into the 
common Territories, and there hold and enjoy the same. . . . 
(5) Resolved, That [if no other adequate protection be avail- 
able] it will be the duty of Congress to supply such defi- 
ciency." -^ 

Douglas opposes; re-affiniis "Non-intervention" (May 16, 
1860). "Sir, let this doctrine of intervention North and inter- 
vention South become the rallying point of two great parties, 
and you will find you have two sectional parties, divided by that 
line that separates the free from the slaveholding States. When- 
ever this shall become the doctrine of the two parties, you will 
find a Southern intervention party for slavery, and a Northern 
intervention party against slavery; and there will come the 
' irrepresible conflict ' of which we have heard so much." -** 

Republican Platform (1860). "7. That the new dogma — 
that the Constitution of its own force, carries slavery into any 
or all territories . . . is a dangerous political heresy . . . ; 
is revolutionary in its tendency and subversive of the peace 
and harmony of the country." -'' 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What seemed to be the effect of the Compromise of 
1850? (2) Were all agreed as to its beneficial nature? (3) 
What position did the two great parties take in regard to the 
Compromise? (4) What was meant by "finality"? (5) What 
claim made by Douglas in regard to the territory to which the 
Compromise of 1850 applied? (6) What arguments made in 
favor of his claim? (7) What ones made against? (8) What 
two important amendments proposed to Douglas's Nebraska 
bill? (9) How did he change his bill? (10) What charges 
made in regard to the reason for his changes in bill? (11) 
What charge did Chase make against the South and support- 
ers of the Kansas-Nebraska bill? (12) What new parties 
appeared in 1854-1856? How explain their rise? (13) What 
result from the doctrine of "squatter sovereignty" in Kansas ? 

(14) How many and what constitutions formed in Kansas? 

(15) What action proposed by Toombs to settle the Kansas 
struggle? (16) What did Congress finally do in regard to the 

25. Rives, Cong. Globe, First Ses. 36th Cong, 935. 

26. Rives, Cong. Globe. First Session 36ih Cong., App.. 314. 

27. McKee, Party Platforms, etc., 114. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 433 

Kansas State Constitutions? (17) What the effect on Doug- 
las ultimately came from the Kansas question? (18) What 
fear do you find expressed in Lincoln's speeches; and what pre- 
diction ? ( 19) What famous phrase coined by Seward ; did 
Lincoln express the same idea? (20) What decided in the 
Dred Scott case? (21) What effect of the John Brown raid 
on the South? (23) What demand made by Jefferson Davis 
in regard to the territories ? 

II. (1) V^arious reasons assigned for making two territories, 
Kansas and Nebraska. (2) Trace the struggle over the Le- 
compton Constitution, noting effects. (3) What was Lincoln's 
skill as a debater, as shown in the Lincoln-Douglas debate? 
(4) Write a paper on the theories in regard to control of ter- 
ritorial institutions during the years 1850-1860. 

III. (1) Trace the rise and growth of the Republican party 
to 1860. (2) Shall Douglas, on the whole, receive our ap- 
proval or condemnation? (3) Trace the steps in the develop- 
ment of sectionalism, 1850-1860. (4) The rise, principles, 
downfall of the Know-Nothing Party. 

Text-Book References. — Adams and Trent, 311-342; Ashley, 
353-373; Channing. 436-453; Hart, 377-381, 383-404; James 
and Sanford, 339-343. 346-365; MacDonald's Johnston. 327- 
341, 343-354; McLaughlin, 384-409; Montgomery [Revised ed.], 
402-434; McMaster, 342-343, 346-363; Thomas [ed. 1901], 
306-323. 



SECTION III 

COMPARISON OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH, INDUS- 
TRIALLY, SOCIALLY, ETC., 1860 

The selections made in this section will indicate the at- 
titude that typical men from the North and South took on 
the subject of slavery. That they differed essentially in 
regard to its moral, industrial, social, and religious justifi- 
cation will stand out clearly, proving that two peoples and 
nations were in process of formation. The climax had been 
reached. The one section had come very largely to accept 
Calhoun's claim that under existing conditions, slaverv was 
"a good, a positive good." There were some who were 
willing to go even a step further and find in the " peculiar 



434 AMERICAN HISTORY 

institution" the basis of the highest civiHzation, and the 
natural law of the universe. The other section was nearly 
as unanimous in its conclusion that slavery was not justi- 
fiable, and while they were ready to acquiesce in its ex- 
istence in the states where it then was established, few were 
ready to permit its extension into new territory. Thus on 
this question, the nation was divided into two unequal 
camps. Yet the South did not as a rule recognize its com- 
parative weakness, finding in the cotton plant an equipoise 
to the greater population and riches of the Free States. 
That "cotton was king" had come to be an accepted hy- 
pothesis, upon which the South might hope to found its 
independence. 

The industrial value of the slave system was called in 
question by travellers through the South, and its weaknesses 
admitted by many in the South ; yet the reply was two-fold : 
by some that the climate made white labor impossible, and 
by others that the free negro would be a greater men- 
ace to prosperity than he was when held in bondage. A 
few claimed on the other hand that the slave system of 
labor was the most profitable ever devised by man. 

The development of the resources of the two sections, 
the extent to which commerce and manufactures had been 
developed, the character of the agriculture may be used 
either to show the relative strength of the two contestants 
in the civil war, or as a study in the eft'ects of the two sys- 
tems of labor, the free or "intensive,'' and the slave or "ex- 
tensive." The character of the strviggle is made more evi- 
dent from the fact that the churches themselves divided into 
a church, North, and a church. South, in spirit, if not, as 
in the Methodist Church, for example, in organization. 
This study in the social and industrial conditions supple- 
ments the political study, and makes more evident the fact 
of the "irrepressible conflict." 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 435 

1. THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY 
a. The Position of the South: 

Slarrry a f^Dsitiz'c good (Stringfellow, Mo.. 1859). "We 
assert that negro-slavery, as it exists in the United States, is 
neither a moral nor a political evil, but on the contrary, is a 
blessing to the white race and to the negro. Slavery is no evil 
to the negro. If we look at the condition of the negro in Africa, 
. . . we find the most pitiable victim of a cruel master, the 
most wretched slave in America, when contrasted with a prince 
of his tribe in the deserts of Africa, is as a man contrasted with 
a beast. . . . Negro slavery is no evil to the white race. . . . 
With us, color, not money marks the class; black, is a badge 
of slavery ; white the color of the freeman ; and the white man 
however poor, . . . feels himself a sovereign. ... To negro 
slavery is the South indebted for its unrivalled prosperity, its 
exemption from the fearful struggle of wealth and poverty ; the 
happy equality in the condition of its people ; its practical en- 
joyment of the full blessings of republican government. . . ." ^ 

Slavery a necessity — A popular vieiv (Olmsted, 1858). 
" The necessity to labor is incompatible with a high civiliza- 
tion, and with heroic spirit in those subject to it. The insti- 
tution of African slavery is a means more effective than anv 
other yet devised for relieving a large body of men from the 
necessity of [manual] labour ; consequently, states which pos- 
sess it must be stronger in statesmanship and in war, than those 
which do not. . . . 

The civilized world is dependent upon the Slave States of 
America for a supply of cotton. . . . Such a monopoly under 
such circumstances must constitute those who possess it the 
richest and most powerful people on the earth. . . . What- 
ever they demand, that must be conceded them ; . . . 

No! you dare not make war upon cotton; no power on earth 
dares to make war upon it. Cotton is King: until lately the 
Bank of England was King ; but she . . . was utterly van- 
quished. The last power has been conquered ; who can doubt, 
that has looked at recent events, that cotton is supreme? "- 



1. Cited in Hart, Am. Hist. Told by Contemp., IV, 69-71. 

2. Cited in Olmsted, The Cot;on Kingdom, I, 5-6, 



436 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Slavery a civilising force. 

Dr. Barton, in an address at New Orleans. " The institu- 
tion of slavery operates by contrast and comparison : it ele- 
vates the tone of the superior, adds to its refinement, allows 
more time to cultivate the mind, exalts the standard in morals, 
manners, and intellectual endowments ; operates as a safety- 
valve for the evil-disposed, leaving the upper race purer, while 
it really preserves from degradation, in the scale of civilization, 
the inferior, which we see is their uniform destiny when left 
to themselves. The slaves constitute essentially the lowest 
class, and society is immeasurably benefitted by having this 
class, which constitutes the offensive fungus — the cancer of 
civilized life — a vast burthen and expense in every community, 
under surveillance and control ; and not only so, but under 
direction as an efficient agent to promote the general welfare 
and increase the wealth of the community. The history of the 
world furnishes no institution under similar management, where 
so much good actually results to the governors and the gov- 
erned as this in the Southern States of North America." •'* 

Chancellor Harper (S. C). 1858. "... President Dew 
[Williams and Mary College] has shown that the institution 
o.f slavery is a principal cause of civilization. . . . The coercion 
of slavery alone is adequate to form man to habits of labor. 
... It is the order of nature and of God, that the being of 
superior faculties and knowledge, and therefore of superior 
power, should control and dispose of those who are inferior. 
. . . But, as I have said, so far as reason or universal expe- 
rience instruct us, the institution of slavery is an essential proc- 
ess in emerging from savage life. It must then produce good, 
and promote the designs of the Creator. ... I add further 
that slavery anticipates the benefits of civilization, and retards 
the evils. . . . " * 

Freedom of the Negro dougerous (Dr. Nott, Ala., 1852). 
". . . [A]nd no one can doubt that emancipation of Southern 
slaves would, for a long series of years, be followed by utter 
destruction of the great staples of the South, and a correspond- 



3. Cited in Olmsted, "The Cotton Kingdom," II, 277-278. 

4. De Bow, Industrial Resources Southern States, II, 206. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 437 

ing destruction of the manufacturing and other interests of the 
North, I am a slave owner, and while on the one hand I shall 
. . . resist all encroachments on our constitutional and natural 
rights, I am . . . free to say that I am ready to advocate any 
scheme of emancipation which will insure to the slaves of the 
South greater happiness than they now enjoy. Every candid 
and intelligent man, who has examined the facts, must ac- 
knowledge that the negroes of the Southern States are infinitely 
better off than those of Africa . . . ; that they are in a far 
better condition, morally and physically, and more happy, than 
those of the free states ; that they are in every respect in a 
better condition than the emancipated blacks of the West In- 
dies ; and that African colonizations . . . have so far resulted 
in no good." •'' 

The Curfezv Ordinance : its sii:^uificance. "Every night at 
nine o'clock the bells of St. Michael's ring as a signal to the 
negroes to return to their homes. A quarter of an hour is 
given them to wend their way to the abodes of their masters; 
and any negro, male or female, young or old, who is found in 
the streets after that hour, without a written permit ... is 
liable to be led off to prison and locked up until the morning." ® 

b. The Position of the North: 

The Barbarism of Slavery (Sumner, Mass., June 4, 1860). 
'■ This is no time for soft words or excuses. . . . Senators 
sometimes announce that they resist Slavery on political 
grounds only, and remind us that they say nothing of the 
moral question. This is wrong. Slavery must be resisted not 
only on political grounds, but on all other grounds, whether 
social, economical or moral. . . . 

The whole character of Slavery, as a pretended form of 
civilization, is put directly in issue, . . . [Southern men say 
Slavery is] ' the most solid and durable foundation on which 
to rear free and stable political institutions ' [Calhoun] ; ' the 
corner-stone of our republican edifice ' [McDuflfie] ; ' its frame 
of society is the best in the world ' [Hammond] ; ' is but a 



5. De Bow, Industrial Resources, etc., II, 308. 

6. Mackay, A Trip through the United States, I. 310. 



438 AMERICAN HISTORY 

form of civil government for those who by their nature are not 
fit to govern themselves' [Davis]; ' it is a great moral, social 
and political blessing — a blessing to the slave and a blessing to 
the master. [Brown] : ' cnnobliug to both races, the white and 
the black ' [Hunter] ; . . . Thus, by various voices, is Slavery 
defiantly proclaimed a form of Civilization, — . . . On former 
occasions I have discussed Slavery only incidentally ; . . . I 
said too little of the character of slavery. . . . But, God be 
praised, this time has passed, and the debate is now lifted from 
details to principles. . . . Undertaking now to expose the 
Barbarism of Slavery, the whole broad field is before me. 
. . . (1)1 begin with the Laii.' of Slavery and its Ongin. . . . 
Foreviost, of course, in these elements, is the impossible pre- 
tension. ... by which man claims property in man. . . . 
Secondly. Slavery paints itself again in its complete abrogation 
of marriage, recognized as a sacrament by the Church, and as 
a contract by the civil power, wherever civilization prevails. 
. . . Thirdly. Slavery paints itself again in its complete ab- 
rogation of the parental relation . . . and again in closing the 
gates of knozdedge, which are also the shining gates of Civi- 
lization; . . . and [lastly] in the appropriation of all the toil 
of its victims, excluding them from that property in their own 
earnings which the law of Nature allows and Civilization se- 
cures. . . . 

(2) In considering the practical results of Slavery, . . . 
I put the Slave States and the Free States face to face, show- 
ing at each point the blasting influence of Slavery. [Here fol- 
low statistics from the census of 1850.]" " 

c The Industrial Conditions under Slavery: 

Conclusions of Frederick Lan.' Olmsted (after various pro- 
longed travels in the South, 1852-1858). 

An expensive labor system. "3. Taking infants, aged, inva- 
lids and vicious and knavish slaves into account, the ordinary 
and average cost of a certain task of labor is more than double 
in Virginia what it is in the Free States adjoining. 

5. Beyond the bare necessities of existence, poor shelter, 



The Works of Charles Sumner, \'. parts of 9-30. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 439 

poor clothing, and the crudest diet, the mass of the citizen class 
of Virginia earn very little and are very poor — immeasurably 
poorer than the mass of the people of the adjoining Free 
States." 

Results in poor roads, etc. " It is hardly worth while to 
build much of a bridge for the occasional use of two families, 
even if they are rich. It is less worth while to go to much 
pains in making six miles of good road for [their] use. A 
school house will hardly be built for the children of six rich 
men who will all live on an average six miles away from it. 
... It is not necessary to multiply ilustrations like these. In 
short, then, if all the wealth produced in a certain district is 
concentrated in the hands of a few men living remote from 
each other, it may possibly bring to the district comfortable 
houses, gootl servants, fine wines, food and furniture, tutors 
and governesses for these few men, but it will not bring thither 
good roads and bridges, . . . such means of education and of civ- 
ilized comfort as are to be drawn from libraries, churches, 
museums, gardens, theatres ... ; it will not bring thither 
local newspapers, telegraphs, etc. . . . There is, in face, a vast 
range of advantages which our civilization has made so com- 
mon to us that they are hardly thought of, of which the people 
of the South are destitute. ..." 

Few Conveniences. "... Men with $40,000 live not as 
well here, all things considered, as men worth $10,000 at the 
North ; and the farmer who owns half a dozen negroes, and 
who I suppose must be called worth $4,000, does not approach 
in his possession of civilized comfort, the well-to-do working 
man with us, who rents a small house, and whose property con- 
sists in its furniture, his tools, skill, and strength, and who has 
a few hundred dollars laid up in the Savings-Bank. ..." 

Poor crops and scattered population. ". . .A farmer [of 
N. C] told me that he considered 25 bushels of corn a large 
crop, and that he generally got only as much as fifteen. He 
said that no money was to be got by raising corn. ... It 

cost too much to get it to market \fter walking a few 

miles, the country became flat. . . . and at nine miles south of 
Raleigh [N. C], there were occasional young long-leaved 
pines. , . . I do not think I passed, in ten miles, more than 



440 AMERICAN HISTORY 

half a dozen homesteads, and of these but one was at all above 
the character of a hut or cabin. The same remarkable appear- 
ance of listlessness, which I had noticed so often in Virginia, 
characterized the men who stood leaning against the logs of 
the hovels. They blinked at me as I passed, as if unable to 
withdraw their hands from their pockets to shade their eyes. 
Every dwelling sent its pack of curs to meet me, and as often 
as they opened a cry, a woman, with a pipe in her mouth, would 
come to the door. . . ." 

Conditions on prosperous plantations. '' Mr. R. is a South- 
erner by birth, but was educated at the North. . . . He is a 
man of more than usual precision of mind, energetic and hu- 
mane ; and while his negroes seemed to be better disciplined 
than any I had seen, they evidently regarded him with affec- 
tion, respect and pride. . . . The plantation contained about 
900 acres of tillage land, . . . Fronting upon the [Miss.] 
river [in La.] . . . was the mansion of the proprietor ; . . . 
The parlors, library, and sleeping rooms of the white family 
were all on the second story. Between the house and the 
street was a yard, . . . The negro houses . . . were as neat 
and well-made externally as the cottages usually provided by 
large manufacturing companies in New England, to be rented 
to their workmen. . . . Mr. R. himself also acknowledged 
Slavery to be a very great evil, morally and economically. It 
was a curse upon the South ; . . . nothing would be more 
desirable than its removal, if it were possible. . . . But he 
did not think it could be abolished without instituting greater 
evils. ... Its influence on the character of the whites was 
what was most deplorable. ..." 

Condition of Slaves. " June 3. . . . There were Colonel 

's negroes, some fifty of them : he did not suppose there 

were any fifty more contented people in the world ; they were 
not driven hard, and stopped three times a day for meals ; 
they had plenty to eat, and good clothes ; and . . . they had 
from Friday night to Monday morning to do what they liked 
with themselves. ... A great many of them had books and 
could read and write. . . . There were two other large plan- 
tations near him, in both of which the negroes were turned out 
to work at half-past three every week day morning — . . . 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 441 

and frequently they were not stopped till nine o'clock at night, 
. . . Beyond the excessive labor required of them on some 
plantations, he did not think the slaves were often treated with 
unnecessary cruelty. It was necessary to use the lash occa- 
sionally. June 4. What do they generally give the niggers on 
the plantations here? A peck of meal and three pounds of 
bacon. ... I wish there warn't no niggers here. They are a 
great curse to this country, . . . But 'twouldn't do to free 'em ; 
tb.at wouldn't do nohow. . . ." 

The Uplands Country. " To-day I am passing through a 
valley of thin, sandy soil, thickly populated by poor farmers. 
. . . They are very ignorant. ... I have seen three white 
women hoeing field crops to-day. A spinning wheel is heard 
in every house, and frequently a loom . . . , always worked 
by women. July, North-Eastern Tenn. . . . The house of the 
farmer without slaves, . . . was much neater. . . . The table 
was abundantly supplied . . . ; loaf bread for the first time ; 
chickens stewed instead of fried ; potatoes without fat ; two sorts 
of simple preserved fruit, . . . and tarts. (The first time I 
have had any of these articles at a private house since I was 
in Western Texas.) "^ 

Effect of Absenteeism (Soil exhaustion). 

Lyell. " One of the evils, tending greatly to retard the 
progress of the Southern States, is absenteeism, which is scarce- 
ly known in the North. The cheapness of land, caused by such 
rapid emigration to the South and West, and the frequent sales 
of the estates of insolvents, tempts planters to buy more land 
than they can manage themselves, which they must therefore 
give in charge to overseers. Accordingly, much of the prop- 
erty in Alabama, belongs to rich Carolinians, and some wealthy 
slave-owners of Alabama have estates in Mississippi." " 

Paper by Edwin Ruffin (Va.), read in South Carolina. 
" The great error of southern agriculture is the general prac- 
tice of exhausting culture — the almost universal deterioration 
of the productive power of the soil — . . ."i*^ 



8. Olmsted. The Cotton Kingdom, I. 11, 20. 137. 172. 28.?, 318-3.^2; II, 
part of 99-125. 

9. Lyell. A Second Visit to the United States, II, 70 71. 

10. De Bow, Industrial Resources of South, etc., I\', 34. 



442 ■ AMERICAN HISTORY 

Untouched forests (As seen by Mackay in Ala. and Ga.). 
" On either bank of the Mississippi, as the traveller is borne 
down its steady current, he may observe . . . piles of wood, 
. . .When a steamer requires wood, it touches at any of these 
points, takes what it wants, and either leaves the money or a 
note of what has been taken to be settled for hereafter. . . . 
From Mobile to Montg'omery [Ala.] by the windings of the 
stream, ... is a distance of nearly five hundred miles. . . . 
To steam up this lonely and lovely river, fringed to the water's 
brink with apparently interminable wildernesses and swamps 
of cane and cypress . . . was like steaming into the aboriginal 
forest for the first time. . . . For forty miles at a stretch we 
traveled onwards, — ever onwards — without seeing any trace of 
a human habitation. . . . There were cotton plantations within 
easy distances, though not always visible from the river. . . . 
After leaving Montgomery, and travelling all night through the 
long, weary, and apparently illimitalde pine forests of Georgia, 
. . . our train arrived at nine in the morning in the beautiful 
little city of Augusta. ..." 

The Southern Raikvays and Chorlestoii (Mackay). "The 
country was unpicturesque. the railway the reverse of com- 
fortable, and sleep, if wooed, was difficult to be won in ' cars ' 
or carriages where there was no support for the back or head 
of the unhappy traveller ; where there was not even a place to 
stow away a hat, a stick, an umbrella, or a bag; and where about 
sixty persons, . . . and at least twenty people who chewed and 
spat, were closely packed in an atmosphere deprived of all its 
moisture and elasticity by the red heat of the anthracite stove 
that glowed and throbbed in the middle of this locomotive den. 
. . . The wharves of Charleston, though not so busy and bus- 
tling as the Levee of New Orleans, present an animated spec- 
tacle, and the port is filled with vessels, principally from Liv- 
erpool and Greenock, taking away cotton in huge and multi- 
tudinous bales for the mills of Manchester and Glasgow; . . ." ^^ 



11. Mackay, A Trip through the United States, I, 243, 288, 296, 308; 
II, 1-2. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIOXAL STRUGGLE 443 

d. Industrial Conditions under Free Labor: 

Edticatibn (Mackay). '" Rhode Island. The Governor's sal- 
ary is 1000 dollars per annum; the civil, military and mis- 
cellaneous expenses are 50,000 dollars ; while the direct grant 
from the State for educational purposes is 35,000 dollars, and 
the local expenses for the same object 50,000 dollars more, — 
. . . Where is the other State, great or small, upon the globe, 
that can glorify itself by such a fact as this ? "' ^- 

Improvoiiciifs in A'ctc England: Roads. Houses, etc. 
f Mackay). "Maine is the only one of the six New England 
States that exists to any considerable extent in the condition 
of the primeval wilderness. The other five arc finished. Their 
roads are made, the tree stumps have been long ago removed, 
the original forest has disappeared, . . . The log hut is not 
often to be seen ; but the neat, elegant, comfortable white 
house, the church, the chapel, the bank, are everywhere to be 
met with. There is no trace of squalor or misery, but over the 
whole land is an air of refinement and of high civilization. 
But the other Eree States have not yet arrived at the same high 
culture. Large portions of the Empire State [N. Y.] arc still 
in a state of nature. . . . Though the most populous State in 
the L^nion . . . and almost as populous as England when Crom- 
well first made his country to lie feared and respected through- 
out Europe : — still. New York is but half peopled. Pennsyl- 
vania. . . . with agricultural and mineral wealth all but inex- 
haustible in its soil.^ — is not more populous than Scotland ; and 
Ohio, one of the noblest of all the Eree States, and able to sup- 
port as large a population as England, numbers ... a million 
less than London. . . . [An Indiana Scotch farmer said] 
' Men of our [Northern] blood thrive upon difificulties. We 
grow rich and fat upon toil and obstruction ; but here in In- 
diana. Illinois, and away to the West. . . . man gains his 
bread too easily to remain virtuous. . . . The southern and 
middle States will in time deteriorate for these reasons, but 
the north — the north — that will be the country. And as for 
Canada, no one can describe . . . , the greatness and glory of 



12. Maclv-ay. A Trip tbroiiRli the United States. II. 10". 



444 AMERICAN HISTORY 

which it may not be made capable, In this respect, . . . Wis- 
consin, Iowa, Kansas, and the large territories of Nebraska, 
Oregon and Columbia, large enough to be made into fifty 
commonwealths of the size of Massachusetts, may share with 
Canada the advantages of a climate that make men hardy, 
enterprising, and strong. . . . 

In the Southern States, partly perhaps from the influence of 
climate, but more probably in a still greater degree from the 
operation of slavery upon the life, character, and feeling of the 
whites, there is nothing like the same social, commercial, and 
literary energy that exists in the north. The cities in the 
free ' Far W'est ' double, treble, and quadruple their population 
in twenty, sometimes in ten years. The cities of the Slave States, 
and the Slave States themselves, either remain stationary or in- 
crease disproportionately. In the Free States all is bustle and ac- 
tivity ; in the Slave States there is elegant and drowsy stagnation. 
The railways in the North are well conducted . . . but in the South 
the railways are for the most part ill-served and ill-regulated. 
. . . Competition- — the very soul of progress — is scarcely to be 
found fin the South]. . . . 

The North — which will not tolerate slavery — shows its par- 
ticipation in this aristocratic notion by refusing to tolerate the 
social equality of the ' nigger.' ..." We are of another race, 
and he is inferior. Let him know his place — and keep it,' 
[say they.]" ^" 

e. The needs of the South: 

Railroads (An address by De Bow of New Orleans, 1851). 
" Gentlemen it is high time that the south and the west should 
do something to gain a position in this confederacy which is 
not dependent and degrading. . . . Why are we forever nerve- 
less, in debt, . . . and must run off to the north whenever we 
would procure a little capital to work a mill-site or dam a river? 
We invest nearly everything in a staple (cotton) which is at 
one extreme or the other. . . . The construction of a system 
of railroads at the south, . . . will have this [advantage] : 
that it will divert a large slave force into more profitable chan- 



13. Mackay. A Trip through the United States. II, 32-41. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIOXAL STRUGGLE 445 

nels than agriculture . . . ; but the construction of railroads 
. . . in promoting manufactures, in securing ... an ex- 
peditious and safe access to market — for this has been the re- 
sult everywhere, gentlemen, throughout [Pa., N. Y., New Eng.] 
. . . will lead to other diversions of labor and capital, which 
must greatly benefit the south ; and we cannot hope to bring 
about these diversions by any other means. Upon whom are 
we dependent for our manufacturing necessities? the shoes 
on our feet, the hat on our head, the cloth in our coat, the shirt 
we wear, down to the very pin and button that fastens it? — 
answer, the north. . . . But when we come to commerce — that 
commerce which has made the north great and powerful — how 
much of it is the result of southern labor? The whole carry- 
ing trade of your products and the return cargoes are entirely 
in their hands. . . . Throw off this yoke of bondage, and begin 
to show your manhood at once. ... I am not afraid of the 
south and slave institutions. All spirit is not yet extinct. . . . 
I cannot forget that at one time she had the longest railroad 
in the world. . . ." ^* 

Manufoctnrcs (Kettell, in V Southern Wealth and Northern 
Profits," 1860). " What we do find in these figures [regarding 
manufacturing] is that the South, having become possessed of 
capital, is prosecuting manufactures at a rate which will soon 
make a ' home market ' for its raw material. . . . The figures 
show that it is fast supplanting Northern and imported goods 
with its own industry. . . . The operatives in all these fac- 
tories are white people, chiefly girls and boys from twelve 
to twenty years of age. On an average they are better paid 
and worked easier than is usually the case in the North. 
Country girls from the pine forests. . . . soon become skillful 
operatives, and ere they have been in the mills a year they are 
able to earn from foui* to six dollars a week. . . . The efforts 
which are being now made at the South to foster the produc- 
tion of goods there to the exclusion of Northern wares, are 
very similar to those which were made by the New England 
colonies, when dissatisfaction began to run high against the 
mother countrv. . . . " ^^ 



14. De Bow, Industrial Resources, etc., II, 482-486. 

15. Kettell, Southern Wealth and Northern Profits, 62-65. 



445 AMERICAN HISTORY 

2 INDUSTRIAL COMPARISON OF NORTH AND SOUTH 
a. South lacked factories and artisans: 

Jefferson Davis (in discussing causes of failure of South). 
" Within the Hmits of the Confederate States the arsenals had 
been used only as depots, and [only one] . . . had a single 
machine above the grade of a foot-lathe except at Harper's 
Ferry Armory, all the work of preparation of material had been 
carried on at the North ; not an arm, not a gun, not a gun- 
carriage, . . . had for fifty years been prepared in the Confed- 
erate States. There were consequently no workmen, . . . 
The only cannon foundry existed at Richmond." ^^ 

Report of Gen. J. G or gas (Chief of Ordnance of the Con- 
federate vStates, 1863). "We began in April. 1861, without 
an arsenal, laboratory, or powder-mill of any capacity, and with 
no foundry or rolling-mill, except in Richmond, and before the 
close of 1863, . . . we supplied them. . . . Crippled by a de- 
preciated currency ; throttled with a blockade that deprived us 
of nearly all the means of getting material or workmen; obliged 
to send almost every able-bodied man to the field ; unable to 
use slave-labor, . . . except in the most unskilled departments 
of production ; hampered by want of transportation even of the 
commonest supplies of food; with no stock on hand even of ar- 
ticles, such as steel, copper, leather, iron, . . . against all these 
obstacles, . . . we persevered at home, as determined as our 
troops in the field, against a more tangible opposition : and, in 
that short period created, almost literally out of the ground, 
foundries and rolling-mills at Selma, Richmond, Atlanta, and 
Macon; smelting works at Petersburg, chemical works at Char- 
lotte, . . . ; a powder-mill far superior to any in the United 
States .... and chain of arsenals, armories, . . . equal to the 
best. ...'■-' 



b. Southern Life during the War: 

Statement Mrs. Victoria V. Clayton (1864). "We were 
blockaded on every side, ... so had to make everything at 
home ; ... it became necessary for every home to be supplied 



16. J. Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, I, 472. 

17. Quoted in J. Davis, Rise and Fall, etc., I, 481-482. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 447 

with spinning; wheels and the old fashioned loom, in order to 
manufacture clothing for members of the family. I knew noth- 
ing about spinning and weaving cloth. I had to learn myself 
and then to teach the negroes. ... All the coloring matter 
for cloth had to be gathered from the forest. We would get 
roots and herbs and experiment with them until we found the 
color desired, ... We also found out what would dye cot- 
ton and what woollen fabrics . . . , and every woman learned 
to knit socks. . . . Some things we could not raise; for in- 
stance . . .—coffee. . . . Various articles were tried [as 
substitutes], but the best of all was the sweet potato. . . ."is 

c. Statistical Comparison of North and South, 1860: 

[The following tables were compiled from the Census re- 
turns of 1860. The columns marked "South" include the eleven 
seceded States; those marked "North," the remaining States. 
The "border" states are Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. 
By addmg the column under "Border" States to that under 
"South," and subtracting it from that under "North," the re- 
sults will show the relative developments of "slave" and "free" 
states. The Columns marked "North" and "South" give the 
strength of the two sides in the Civil War.] 

Population 

South North Border 

White 5,770,193 21,274,667 2,498,938 

Black 3,333,340 771,868 525,807 

Total 9,103,533 22,046,535 3,024745 

Area 

States, sq. mi 727,558 889,273 114,416 

Railroads 

Miles 8,946 22,127 1,767 

Banks 

Capital $91,158,149 $330,731,946 $34,487,583 

Real Estate 

Value $1,853,713,483 $5,119,392,566 $496,717,069 

18. Quoted in Hart, Am. Hist. Told by Contemporaries. IV, 244-246. 



448 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Live Stock 

Value $390,962,274 $707,900,081 $130,229,763 

Horses (No.) 1,698.328 4,391,614 810.984 

Cows (Xo.) 2.691,495 5,971.770 714,921 

Sheep (No.) 5,013,059 17,418,369 2,032,200 

Swine (No.) 15,530,558 16,967,253 5,072,776 

Slaughtered Animals 

Value $85,165,461 $126,866,594 $21,990,263 

Mineral Productions 

Pig Iron (Tons)... 27.S72> 856.961 75,862 

Coal (Anthracite) (T.) 11.869.574 

Coal (Bituminous) (T.) 1,109.850 6,381.341 949,338 

Farm Prodncts 

Wheat (bu.) 31.346.804 138.830,223 17,725,827 

Corn (bu.) 280.665,814 547,529,514 150,380,712 

Oats (bu.) 19.920.410 152,168.685 12.257,197 

Rice (lbs.) 187,112.057 28.126 28,126 

Tobacco (lbs.) 195,943.654 233,421.097 171,599,624 

Cotton (bales) 5.192.746 4.198 4,192 

Wool (lbs.) 9,748,702 50,762.641 4,886,413 

Irish Potatoes (bu.) 6,578,298 110,023,139 5,011,811 

Sweet Potatoes (bu.) 37,700,536 3,900.214 1,416,404 

Butter (lbs.) 59.909.127 399.763.525 29.686,741 

Cheese (lbs.) 2.372,347 103.416.305 465,281 

Manufactures (Annual Value) 

Agricultural 

Implements $1,582,463 $16,214,826 $1,196,135 

Steam Engines and 

Machinery $4,060,803 $41,377,237 $3,009,803 

Lumber . .' $17,941,162 $71,799,693 $6,627,788 

Elour and Meal.... $30,767,457 $186,280,620 $22,051,950 

Cottons $7,172,293 $107,964,583 $3,194,377 

Woollens $2,303,303 $66,327,560 $2,136,156 

Leather $ 4.074,406 $ 58.664.876 $ 2,783,414 

Boots and Shoes $ 2,729,327 $ 86.820.573 $ 2.796.718 

Total Value Farm Machinery in Use 

Value $77,879,425 $168,245,640 $20,196,610 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 449 

Improved Lands 

Acres 57,092,635 105,771,886 13,380,547 

Nezvspapers 

Political (Daily) (No.). 62 310 25 

(Weekly) (No.) 579 2,115 228 

Religious (Weekly) 32 139 13 

(Monthly) .... 7 81 3 

Literary (Weekly) 43 134 8 

(Monthly) .... 18 86 5 
Miscellaneous (Weekly) 17 114 7 
(Monthly) 8 67 7 
Total Annual Circu- 
lation (copies).. 103,021,436 824,940.112 30,973,106 

3. SLAVERY DIVIDES THE CHURCHES 

a. Religious Status of the Negro: 

Letters of Gov. Hatnnwnd (S. C.) to Tlios. Clark son. 
"... As regards their religious condition, it is well known that 
a majority of the communicants of the Methodist and Baptist 
churches of the South are colored. Almost everywhere they 
have precisely the same opportunities of attending worship 
that the whites have. . . ."-** 

b Breach in the Churches: Division of the Methodist Church: 

Separation into Northern and Southern Churches (Pro- 
ceedings Methodist General Conference, 1844-1845). "The 
vote for the resolution, declaring that ' it is the sense of this 
conference that Bishop Andrews desist from the exercise of 
his office so long as this impediment [holding slaves] remains,' 
was one hundred and eleven, and the vote against it was sixty- 
nine. All the votes from the Middle, Eastern, and Western 
States were cast for the resolution, except three from the Illinois 
Conference, five from the Baltimore, four from the Philadelphia, 
two from the New Jersey, and one each from New York, Michi- 
gan, and Rock River conferences. But one resident of the South 



20. De Bow, Industrial Resources Soutliern States, II, 250. 



450 AMERICAN HISTORY 

voted for it. . . . Capers proposed resolutions recommending to 
the annual conferences to suspend the constitutional restrictions, 
so as to divide the supreme legislative body into two General 
Conferences: one to include the States and Territories south [of 
36° 30'] ; . . . the other to comprehend those north of the said 
line. . . . The organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, being thus completed, . . . [May 1, 1846]. ..." 

General Conference of Northern Methodist Church (Balti- 
more, 1860). "... We believe that the buying, selling, or 
holding of human beings, to be used as chattels, is contrary to 
the laws of God and nature, . . . We, therefore, . . . ad- 
monish all oiir preachers and people to keep themselves pure 
from this great evil, ..." 

General Conference of Methodist Church South (Nashville, 
p;858). " Whereas, The rule . . . , forbidding 'the buying and 
selling of men, women, and children, with intention to enslave 
them ' is ambiguous . . . ; therefore, Resolved, 1. By the dele- 
gates, . . . that the [aforesaid] rule ... be expunged from the 
General Rules of the Methodist Episcopal Church South [147 
ayes, 7 noes]." ^^ 

QUESTIONS 

I. (1) Give the position of Stringfellow in regard to the ef- 
fects of slavery. (2) On what grounds does Sumner attack 
slavery? (3) What claims made by southern men regarding 
its |:)asis as a civilizing agent? (4) Was Sumner a calm rea- 
soner ? (5) Why does he characterize slavery as barbarism? 
(6) On what did the South rely for supremacy? (7) What 
claim made in regard to the relation of slavery and civilization? 
(8) What one reason at least that led the South to oppose etnan- 
cipation ? (9) What the significance of the curfew bell in 
Charleston? (10) What economical objections did Olmsted find 
to slavery? (11) What his judgment regarding its effect on 
the laboring masses? (12) What comparison does he make 
regarding comfort of slaves and Northern laborers? (13) Was 
the standard of treatment of slaves uniform? (14) Why was 
there less skillful farming in South than North? (15) What 
the significance of the extended forest regions of the South ? 
(16) How about the comfort of railroad travel? (17) Why the 
contrast in regard to public schools in the two sections? (18) 

21. Buckley, American Church History: Methodists, 441-443. 451, 561, 625. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 451 

What picture of northern houses by Mackay, compared with the 
picture of southern by Olmsted? (19) Where does Mackay 
find greatest activity? (20) What weakness unintentionally ad- 
mitted by De Bow? (21) Do the tables of statistics bear out 
Kettell's claim? (22) Significance of the extracts from J. 
Davis, "Rise and Fall of the Confederacy"? (23) What seems 
to be main reason for the division of the IMethodist Church ? 
(24) What state of Southern manufactures 1860? (25) How 
would "Blockade" affect the leading productions of the South? 
II. (1) Compare the comforts enjoyed by average people in 
North and South, 1860. Make a list of the claims made for 
slavery. (3) Make a list of the weaknesses charged against 
slavery. (4) What seems to you the strongest argument made 
by supporters of the slave system? (5) Does a study of the 
industrial tables explain the triumph of the North? 

III. (1) Write an essay comparing the North and the South. 
(2) Do present conditions prove or disprove the fear of the 
South that free negro labor would cause destruction of southern 
industries? (3) Were the evils of slavery as great as the North 
at the time believed? (4) Were the differences in points of 
view between northerner and southerner fundamental or rela- 
tively superficial ? 

Text-Book References.— Ai\avA^ and Trent. 348-350, 357-360; 
Ashley. 386-390; Channing, 456-462; Hart. 419-431 ;. Tames and 
Sanford, 377-380; MacDonald's Tohnston. 344-345. 352-353; Mc- 
Laughlin, 420-421 ; McMaster. 376: Thomas. 333-336. 



SECTION I\' 

THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865 

The South itself was not a unit in regard to the causes 
which should be assigned for secession, but in every ex- 
planation slaverA' was implied, if not cxjiressed. The pos- 
sibility of limiting secession to South Carolina depended 
on the acceptance or rejection of the Crittenden compro- 
mise proposals. But when the Republicans, under Lincol'.i's 
advice, refused to assent to any extension of slave terri'orw 
the radicals of the South under the leadership of Davis, 
Toombs — supported secession. 4he result wa^ the seces- 



452 AMERICAN HISTORY 

sion of six more states, tlie formation of the Confederacy, 
and the attack on Sumter. 

There were two clearly defined periods to the war : the 
first to preserve the Union ; the second to destroy slavery. 
From the first a few radicals had held that' as slavery was 
the cause of the rebellion, its destruction should follow. 
Lincoln, however, clung to the conservative view — the 
preservation of the Union, till the border states had une- 
quivocally cast their lot with the North. Then in 1862, 
his policy began to change, and from Jan. 1, 1863, the war 
became an anti-slavery struggle. The change of policy 
divided the North again into political parties. 

For nearly three years the outcome of the military strug- 
gle was uncertain, but the greater population and resources 
of the North gradually began to tell, and by 1864 it was 
seen that the outcome was only a question of time. The 
Confederacy, deprived of markets by the blockade, and di- 
vided in 1863 along the line of the Mississippi river, and 
again in 1864 by Sherman in his March to the Sea. was 
starved into subjection, and on the surrender of Lee, all 
resistance ceased. During the first two years of the war 
the Confederacy seemed to have the sympathy of Europe. 
The early recognition of its belligerency gave hope to the 
South that its independence also might be acknowledged. 
The Trent episode, and the cotton famine in Europe gave 
encouragement to this view ; but when the war once became 
a war against slavery, the sentiment of the masses in Eu- 
rope declared unequivocally for the North and the Union, 
and all danger of intervention ceased. 

1. SECESSION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Dec, 1860 
a. Reasons assigned in Justification: 

The South Carolina Convention gives its Reasons for its Ac- 
tion. ". . . The one great evil, from which all the other evils 
have flowed, is the overthrow of the Constitution of the United 



SLAX^ERV AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 453 

States. The Government . . . . is no longer the Government of 
Confederated RepubHcs, but of a Consolidated Democracy. It 
is no longer a free Government, but a despotism. . . . The 
Revolution of 1776 turned upon the one great principle, self- 
government, — and self-taxation, the criterion of self-govern- 
ment. . . . The Southern States now stand exactly in the same 
position towards the Northern States, that the Colonies did to- 
ward Great Britain. . . . Experience has proved, that slave- 
holding States cannot be safe, in subjection to non-slaveholding 
States. . . . The people of the North have not left us in doubt, 
as to their designs and policy. . . . But if African slavery in 
the Southern States, be the evil their political combination af- 
firms it to be, the requisitions of an inexorable logic, must lead 
them to emancipation. . . . The last thing a State can be pre- 
sumed to have surrendered is her sovereignty. ... It [the 
Constitution] is morally obligatory only on those who choose 
to accept its perverted terms. . . ."^ 

Debate in the Convention. '" Gregg. . . . And yet in all this 
declaration [of causes] not one word is said about the tariff. 
Keitt. . . . The tariff is not the question which has brought 
us up to our present attitude. ... I am willing in this issue 
to rest disunion upon the question of slavery. It is the great 
central point from which we are now proceeding. ... If we 
wish to find the immediate cause of the secession of South Caro- 
lina, the immediate cause of all is the election of Lincoln. Mr. 
Rhett. . . . The secession of South Carolina is not an event of 
a day. It is not anything produced by Mr. Lincoln's election, 
or by the non-execution of the fugitive slave law. It has been 
a matter which has been gathering head for thirty years. The 
election of Lincoln . . . was the last straw on the back of the 
camel. . . . Judge Withers. ... I think if every member of 
the Convention should draw up an indictment against the people 
of the unfaithful confederate States .... you would probably 
find no two verv nearlv alike." - 



1. McPherson, Political History of I'nitcd States, 1314. 

2. McPherson. Political History of L'nited States, 16, 17, 19. 



454 AMERICAN HISTORY 

b. Attempts at Compromise: 

Crittenden (Ky.) proposes Ameiuhnents. " Whereas, serious 
and alarming dissentions have arisen between the Northern and 
Southern States, . . . ; and whereas, it is eminently desirable 
. . . that these dissentions should be . . . settled by constitu- 
tional provisions which shall do equal justice- to all sections 
. . . , therefore. Resolved, . . . Art. 1. In all the territory of 
the United States now held or hereafter acquired, situated north 
of latitude 36° 30', slavery or involuntary servitude ... is pro- 
hibited while such territory shall remain under territorial gov- 
ernment. In all the territory south of said line of latitude. 
slavery of the African race is hereby recognized as existing, and 
shall not be interfered with by Corrgress. . . . 

[Congress not abolish slavery in forts, &c.]. 

[Relates to slavery in D. C.]. 

[Congress not prohibit inter-state slave trade]. 

[Payment for escaped slaves]. 

[Prohibitions on future amendments]." 
The Republican Attitude. Clark (N. H.) moved to amend: 
" That the provisions of the Constitution are ample for the pres- 
ervation of the Union, . . . ; that it needs to be obeyed, rather 
than amended. . . . " ^ [Adopted 25 to 23 ; later reconsidered 
and rejected; the Crittenden proposals then rejected 19 to 20]. 
Radical Republicans (Wade of Ohio). ". . .1 say, then, 
so far as I am concerned, I will yield to no compromise." * 

Lincoln to W. Kellogg (Dec. 11, 1860). "Entertain no prop- 
osition for a compromise in regard to the extension of slavery. 
The instant you do they have us under again ; all our labor is 
lest, and sooner or later must be done over." 

Lincoln to W. H. Sezvard (Febr. 1, 1860). ". . . I say now, 
however, as I have all the while said, that on the territorial 
question — that is, the question of extending slavery under the 
national auspices — I am inflexible. ... As to fugitive slaves, 
District of Columbia, slave trade among the States . . . , I care 
but little, . . . Nor do I care much about New Mexico, if fur- 
ther extension were hedged against." ^ 



Art. 


2 


Art. 


3. 


Art. 


4. 


Art. 


5. 


Art. 


6. 



3 McPherson, Political History of United States, 64-65. 

4. Hart. American History Told by Contemporaries, IV. 201. 

5. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works cf Lincoln, I, 669. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 455 

2. THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS 

a. Effects of Southern firing on Sumter: 

The New York Tribune (April 19, 1861). "Fort Sumter is 
lost, but freedom is saved. . . . Democrat as well as Republi- 
can, Conservative and Radical, instinctively feel that the guns 
fired at Sumter were aimed at the heart of the American Repub- 
lic. ..." 

V. Y. Herald. ". . . In a conflict of this sort there can be 
but two parties, — a Northern and a Southern party ; for all other 
parties will cease to exist. ..." 

V. Y. Express. " The ' irrepressible conflict ' started by Mr. 
Seward, and endorsed by the Republican party, has at length at- 
tained to its logical, foreseen result. ..." 

A^ Y. Times. "... The President issues his proclamation 
to-day . . . cdWmgiov seventy-five thousand volunteers ior i\\Q. do.- 
fense of the Union, . . . The people will respond to this demand 
with alacrity and exultation. They ask nothing better than to 
be allowed to fight for the constitution which their fathers 
framed. Whatever may have been their political differences, 
there has never been a moment when they were not ready to 
sink them all in devotion to their common country, and in de- 
fence of their common flag. . . ." ^ 

Report of Southern Baptist Convention (May 13, 1861). 
". . . While the two sections of the land are thus arrayed 
against each other, it might naturally have been hoped that at 
least the churches of the North would interpose and protest 
against this appeal to the sword, . . . but with . . . grief we 
find churches and pastors of the North breathing out slaughter. 
. . . Therefore, . . . Resolved, That we most heartily approve 
of the formation of the Government of the Confederate States 
of America, and admire and applaud the noble course of that 
Government. . . 

Resolved, That . . . the threats to zvage upon the South 
a warfare of suz'age barbarity, to devastate our homes and 
hearths with hosts of ruffians and felons burning with lust and 
rapine, ought to excite the horror of all ciz'iliced people. 



6. Moore. The Rtbelliun Ktconl. I, 5759. 



456 AMERICAN HISTORY 

Resolved, That we do nozv engage in prayer for our friends, 
brothers, sons, and citizen soldiers, zvho have left their homes 
to go forth for the defence of their families. . . ."'^ 

New Orleans Bell (Apr. 27). "The sectional prejudice 
among thousands which, until recent events, had laid dormant 
and inert, has been roused to active demonstration by the fiend- 
ish tactics of Black Republicanism. . . .'' 

Nezv Orleans Bulletin. " Public sentiment in the South has 
become a unit. . . . The Lincoln cabinet . . . makes laws of 
irs own, or rather proceeds to make war upon the Confederate 
States without any law. . . . " * 

b. Border State Neutrality: 

The Attitude of Kentucky (April 21, 1861). ''Resolved, 

1. That as the Confederate States have . . . commenced war 
. . . without consultation with Kentucky .... Kentucky re- 
serves to herself the right to choose her own position, . . . 

2. That the National Government should be tried by its acts. 
... 3. That, as we oppose the call of the President for volun- 
teers for the purpose of coercing the seceded States, so we 
oppose raising troops ... to co-operate with the Southern 
Confederacy. 4. That secession is a remedy for no evil, real 
or imaginary. ..." 

Mr. Dixon's speech on above resolutions. " Whose flag is 
that which waves over us ? . . . Is it not yours, is it not our 
own Stars and Stripes, and do we mean ever to abandon it ? " 

/. Y. Brozi'u's speech on same. '*. . . He earnestly urged 
the neutrality of Kentucky in the present crisis, as the best and 
practicable position for Kentucky to maintain her integrity in 
the Union, and to mediate between the antagonistic sections." * 

c. The Plan of Campaign: 

As outlined in i86i (Harper's Weekly, Dec. 21, 1861). 
". . . How then are we to succeed in accomplishing our pur- 
pose of restoring the authority of government . . . ? What 



7. Moore, Rebellion Record, I. 238. 

8. Moore, Rebellion Record, I, 138. 

9. Moore, The Rebellion Record, I, 74-76. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 457 

we have to do is to convince the people of the South that we 
are stronger than they, and as resokite, . . . [To do this] we 
must beat them in the field, and we must render the inconve- 
niences of the war intolerable to the Southern people. The 
first will be done by General McClellan, . . . The measures 
... to teach the South the cost of rebellion are of various 
kinds. The blockade is the first ... A necessary part of the 
blockade is the descent and occupation of the Mississippi river. 
. . . We must hold Columbus, Memphis, Natchez, and New 
Orleans. We may hold sinuiltaneously Hatteras, Port Royal, 
Savannah, . . . and Pensacola. Thus encircled, the rebel sec- 
tion will be within our grasp, and we can make the rebels feel 
what it is to be at war. For instance, they are suffering se- 
verely . . . [for] leather, coffee, tea, salt, woollen cloth, all 
kinds of hardware, drugs, &c. ... It is believed that by the 
time the cordon is fairly tightened round the rebel States, . . . 
A smart defeat would then probably end the war.'' ^'^ 

As planned by Grant and Sherman (1864-1865). "The 
bill restoring the grade of lieutenant general . . . became a 
law on the 26th of February [1864]. My nomination had been 
sent to the Senate on the 1st of March and confirmed the next 
day. . . . When I assumed command of the armies the situa- 
tion was about this : The Mississippi River was guarded from 
St. Louis to its mouth ; the line of the Arkansas was held, 
. . . east of the Mississippi we held substantially all north of 
the Memphis and Charleston Railroad as far east as Chatta- 
nooga, then along the line of the Tennessee . . . , taking in 
nearly all of the State of Tennessee. West Virginia was in our 
hands ; and that part of Old Virginia north of the Rapidan and 
east of the Blue Ridge. . . . On the sea-coast [various places 
named]. ... In the east the opposing forces stood in substan- 
tially the same relations towards each other as three years be- 
fore, or when the war began ; . . . My general plan now was 
to concentrate all the force possible against the Confederate 
armies in the field. . . . The armies were now already to move ^ 
for the accomplishment of a single object. They were acting 
as a unit so far as such a thing was possible over such a vast 



10. Harper s Ifcekly, 1861. 802. 



458 AMERICAN HISTORY 

field. Lee, with the capital of the Confederacy, was the main 
end to which all were working. Johnston, with Atlanta, was 
av important obstacle in the way of our accomplishing the re- 
sult aimed at, and was therefore almost an independent object- 
ive. . . . All other troops were employed exclusively in sup- 
port of these two movements. This was the plan. . . . The 
campaign to Atlanta was managed with the most consummate 
skill, the enemy, being flanked out of one position after 
another all the way there. . . . The next morning [Sept. 2] 
Slocum . . . moved in and took possession of Atlanta, and 
notified Sherman. . . . On the 2nd of November, as stated, 
I approved definitely his [Sherman] making his proposed cam- 
paign through Georgia. . . . Sherman started on that day, . . , 
and on the 15th [November] the real march to the sea com- 
menced. . . . The question of who devised the plan of march 
from Atlanta to Savannah is easily answered ; it was clearly 
Sherman, and to him also belongs the credit of its brilliant 
execution. . . . 

April 9, 1865. General, I received your letter of this date 
containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern 
Virginia as proposed by you. As they are substantially the 
same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th, they are ac- 
cepted, . . . R. E. Lee, General." ^^ 

3. CHARACTER AND PURPOSE OF THE WAR 

a. A Pro-Union War, 1861-1862: 

The Crittenden Resolutions (July 22, 1861). "Resolved, 
That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the 
country by the disunionists of the Southern States . . . ; that 
in this national emergency Congress . . . will recollect only 
its duty to the whole country ; that this war is not waged 
upon our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose 
of conquest or subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing or 
interfering with the rights or established institutions of those 
States ; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Con- 
stitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equal- 



11. Webster, The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Two volumes in one, 
403-623, passim. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 459 

ity, and rights of the several States unimpaired; that as soon 
as these objects are accompUshed the war ought to cease" ^- 
[ Adopted, House, 122 to 2; Senate, 30 to 5]. 

President Lincoln to Gen. Fremont (Sept. 2, 1861). "Sec- 
ond, I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph 
[of your proclamation] in relation to . . . liberating slaves of 
traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern Union friends and 
turn them against us; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospects 
for Kentucky. . . . '^^ 

Resolution of Thad Stevens of Pennsylvania (Dec. 2, 1861). 
" Whereas slavery has caused the present rebellion, . . . Be 
it resolved, . . . That the president be requested to declare free 
... all slaves who shall leave their masters ..." [action 
postponed].^* 

President Lincoln to Gen. Hunter (May 19, 1862). " Where 
as there appears in the public prints ... a proclamation of 
Major-General Hunter, in the words . . . , to wit : . . . 
Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether in- 
compatible; the persons . . . [Ga., FI., S. C.] — heretofore 
held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free. 

And whereas the same is producing some excitement . . . : 
therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President . . . proclaim . . . 
that neither General Hunter, nor any other commander or per- 
son, has been authorized ... to make a proclamation declaring 
the slaves of any State free; and that the supposed proclama- 
tion ... is altogether void. . . ." ^'' 

Lincoln's plan for Compensated Emancipation (March 6, 
1862). "I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution [by 
Congress] as follows : Resolved, That the United States ought 
to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual abolish- 
ment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used 
by such State, in its discretion, to compensate for the incon- 
veniences, public and private, produced by such change. . . . " ^® 

President Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley (Aug. 22, 



12. McPherson. Political History of United States, 286. 

13. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works Lincoln, II, 77. 

14. McPherson, Pol. Hist, of U. S., 287. 

15. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works Lincoln. 11.154, 

16. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works Lincoln, II, 129. 



460 AMERICAN HISTORY 

1862). "As to the policy I 'seem to be pursuing,' as you say, 
I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the 
Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitu- 
tion. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the 
nearer the Union will be ' the Union as it was.' If there be 
those who would not save the Union unless they could at the 
same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be 
those who would not save the Union unless they could at the 
same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My 
paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is 
not either to save or to destroy slavery. . . ."^' 

b. An Anti-Slavery War, 1863-1865: 

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, (Jan. 1, 1863). 
" Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September ... a 
proclamation was issued . . . [as follows], ' That on the first 
day of January, [1863], all persons held as slaves within any 
State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall 
then be in rebellion . . . , shall be then, thenceforward,- and 
forever free ; . . . ' 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, 
. . , and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing 
said rebellion, do, on this first day of January [1863], and in 
accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for 
the full period of 100 days from the day first above mentioned, 
order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein 
the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion, . . . 
[states named]. 

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, 
I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves . . . 
are . . . free : . . . 

And I further declare and make known that such persons 
. . . will be received into the armed service of the United 
States, . . ."^» 



17. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln, II. 227. 

18. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln, II, 287-288. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 461 

Tlic Thirteenth Amendment. 

Republican PLitform (1864). "Art. 3. Resolved, That as 
slavery was the cause ... of this rebellion, . . . we are in 
favor ... of such an amendment to the Constitution, . . , 
as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery 
within the limits and jurisdiction of the United States." 

Lincoln's Annual Message (Dec. 6, 1864). "At the last 
session of Congress a proposed amendment of the Constitution, 
abolishing slavery . . . passed the Senate, but failed ... in the 
House of Representatives. Although the present is the same 
Congress, ... I venture to recommend the reconsideration and 
passage of the measure at the present session." 

Lincoln's Telegram to Governor Andrews (Febr. 1, 1865). 
'' The President has just signed the resolution of Congress, sub- 
mitting to the legislatures of the several States a proposition to 
amend the Constitution of the LTnited States." ^'■' [Ratified Dec. 
18, 1865]. i» 

4. FOREIGN RELATIONS 

a. Attitude of European Nations: 

British Proelamation of Xeiitrality (May 13. 1861). "... 
\\ hereas hostilities have unhappily commenced between the 
Government of the United States of America and certain States 
stvling themselves ' the Confederate States of America ' ; . . . 
we, therefore, have thought fit ... to issue this our Royal Proc- 
lamation ; and we do hereby strictly charge and command all our 
loving subjects to observe a strict neutrality in and during the 
ai'oresaid hostilities, . . ."'-" 

b. The Trent Affair: 

Earl Russell to Lord Lyons (Nov. 30, 1861). "It thus ap- 
pears that certain individuals have been forcibly taken from on 
board a British vessel, the ship of a neutral power, while such 
vessel was pursuing a lawful and innocent voyage — an act of 
violence which was an affront to the British flag — and a viola- 
tion of international law. . . . Her Majesty's government. 



19. Xicolay and Hay. Complete Works of Lincoln, II. 5.10, 613, 635. 

20. }iIoore, Rebellion Record, I, 247. 



462 AMERICAN HISTORY 

therefore, trust, that . . . [the United States] . . . will, of 
it'-, own accord, offer . . . such redress as alone could sat- 
is y the British nation, namely, the liheration of the four gen- 
tlemen . . . and a suitahle apology. ..." 

Sczvard discusses question; Apologises (Dec. 26, 1861). 
"... The question before us . . . involves the following in- 
quiries : 

1st. Were the persons named and their supposed despatches 
contraband of war ? 

2d. Might Captain Wilkes lawfully stop and search for 
these contraband persons and despatches? 

3d. Did he exercise the right in a lawful and proper man- 
ner ? 

4th had he a right to capture the persons? 

5th. Did he exercise the right of capture in the manner 
allowed and recognized by the law of nations ? [Seward an- 
swers the' first four questions in the affirmative and the last in 
the negative, then adds] The four persons in question are now 
held in military custody. . . . They will be cheerfully lib- 
erated. ..." -^ 

Public opinion on the Trent Matter ( Harjier's Weekly, Jan. 
4, 1862). "Of the conduct of Great Britain in this affair it requires 
unusual self-control to speak in measured terms. . . . No such 
baseness as England has evinced in the course of the last nine 
months can escape retribution. A time will come — and in our 
day too — when we shall call England to account for the un- 
natural enmity she has displayed toward the United States; 
for her base sympathy with traitors and pirates ; and for the 
unspeakable cowardice she now evinces in trying to drive us 
to the wall in the hour of our most trying extremity. ..." 
Jan. 11. "The traitors Mason, Slidell . . . have been sur- 
rendered to the British Government. Jan. 18. Time enough 
has now elapsed to perceive that Mr. Seward has performed 
one of the most difficult and delicate tasks . . . with such 
calmness, dignity, and consummate ability, that there is uni- 
versal national assent. -There are many who think that the 
surrender must have been made, right or wrong, to avoid a 



21. .S<.na;r Executive Documents. 2<\ Scs. 37th Cong., Doc. 8. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 463 

war, . . . There are others who think that the question was, 
at best, doubtful; and they are glad that, at this time, it has 
been decided against ourselves. There are others who think 
the true American doctrine [of no search] required the sur- 
render: and they are glad . . . ' If I decide this case in favor 
of my own Government, I must disavow its most cherished 
principles, and reverse and forever abandon its essential policy ' 
[Seward]." -- 

c. The Question of Recognition of Independence: 

The London Spectator (Jan. 25, 1862). "It is understood, 
.... that the Confederacy has offered England and France a 
price for active support. It is nothing less than a treaty secur- 
ing free trade in its broadest sense for fifty years, the complete 
suppression of the importation of slaves, and the emancipation 
of every negro born after the date of the signature of the 
treaty. In return they ask — first, the recognition of their inde- 
pendence ; and, secondly, such an investigation into the facts 
of the blockade, as must, in their judgment, lead to its dis- 
avowal." -^ 

Secretary Seward to C. F. Adams, American Ambassador 
at London (Aug. 2, 1862). "If, contrary to our expectations, 
the British government, . . . should acknowledge the insurg- 
ents, . . , you will immediately suspend the exercise of your 
functions, and give notice of that suspension to Earl Russell 
and to this department. If the British government make any 
act or declaration of war against the United States, you will 
desist from your functions, ask a passport, and return without 
delay to this capital [Washington]. . . ." -* 

Seward to Dayton, American Minister to France (Oct. 20, 
1862). " Are the enlightened and humane nations. Great Britain 
and France, to throw their protection over the insurgents now? 
Are they to enter, . . , into this conflict, which, . . , has 
also, by force of circumstances, become a war between free- 
dom and human bondage? Will they interfere to strike down 
the arm that ... is raised at last to break the fetters of the 



22. Harper's Weekly ,\?,62, 2, 18, 34. 

23. Cited in Bancroft's Life of Seward, II, 331. 

24. Cited in Bancroft's Life of Seward. II, 295. 



464 AMERICAN HISTORY 

slave, and seek to rivet anew the chains which he has sun- 
dered? Has this purpose, strange and untried, entered into 
the councils of those who are said to have concluded that it is 
their duty to recognize the insurgents? If so, have they con- 
sidered, further, that recognition must fail- without interven- 
tion ; that intervention will be ineffectual unless attended by 
permanent and persistent armies, and that they are committing 
themselves to maintain slavery in that manner among a people 
where slaves and masters alike agree in the resolution that it 
shall no longer exist ? Is this to be the climax of the world's 
progress in the nineteenth century ?" -'■ 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) What reasons did South Carolina assign to justify 
secession ? (2) What comparison made with conditions in 
1776? (3) Were the reasons assigned in the Address satisfac- 
tory to all members of the South Carolina convention ? (4) 
Who was the leader in attempts at compromise? (5) Was it 
natural that the leader of proposals of compromise should come 
from Kentucky? (6) What were the leading terms of the 
proposed compromise? (7) What proposal in the compromise 
was especially opposed by the Republicans and why? (8) What 
attitude did Lincoln take on compromise? (9) What effect 
produced in the North by the firing on Fort Sumter? (10) 
What significance in the resolutions of the Southern Baptists? 
(11) What questions raised in Kentucky in regard to its po- 
sition towards secession? (12) Outline the general military 
plan of the North. (13) Give the military situation when Grant 
became commander-in-chief. (14) How did he change military 
plans? (15) Who was Grant's favorite general? (16) To 
whom does the credit of the March to the Sea belong? (17) 
What two marked periods to the war, and characteristics each? 
(18) What was Lincoln's purpose in the war? (19) Why was 
Lincoln so anxious to have the 13th Amendment adopted? (20) 
What was the American belief in regard to the attitude of 
England towards the North? (21) What actions seemed to 
justify such an opinion? (22) Why was Seward willing to 
surrender Mason and Slidell ? (23) What the policy of the 
United States in case England or France recognized independ- 
ence of the Confederate States? 



25. Diplomatic Correspondence, 1862, p. 398. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 465 

IL (1) Upon what theory of the Constitution did the South 
claim the right to secede? (2) Discuss the reasons for the 
defeat of the South. (3) What seems to you to be the reason 
for Lincoln's conservative action on the slavery question? (4) 
Write a paper on the foreign relations of the United States 
during the Civil War. 

III. (1) Make two maps: (a) to show the steps in the se- 
cession movement; (b) to show where the emancipation proc- 
lamation did not affect slavery. (2) Trace the influence that 
Lincoln's policy in regard to slavery had on our foreign rela- 
tions. (3) Was the South conquered in battle or exhausted in 
resources? (4) On what terms did the South lay down arms? 

Text-Book References.— Adams and Trent, 342-348, 353-445; 
Ashley, 373-385, 387-429; Channing, 471-530; Hart, 404-417, 
433-489; James and Sanford, 368-413; MacDonald's Johnston, 
354-433; McLaughlin, 410-468; Montgomery [Revised ed.], 434- 
448, 452-511; McMaster, 378-424; Thomas [Ed. 1901], 323-388. 



SECTION V 

RECONSTRUCTION, 1863-1877 

In the midst of war the legal relation of the seceded 
states to the Union was of secondary importance ; yet dur- 
ing these years various theories were evolved. Lincoln, 
viewing the Union as unbroken, found the duty of getting 
the Confederate states back into their "normal relation" as 
one devolved by the Constitution upon the President. Per- 
haps a large majority of Congress held that the right of 
reconstruction rested in Congress. The issue was defined, 
but not fully developed when Lincoln's assassination de- 
volved the solution of the problem upon a weaker and less 
skillful statesman. Johnson worked out the Lincoln theory 
during the summer of 1865, and when Congress met in 
December of that year, representatives from the restored 
states were in Washington, or about ready to come, asking 
seats in Congress. The question whether Presidential or 
Congressional reconstruction should prevail was soon a 



466 AMERICAN HISTORY 

definite issue. By the spring of 1866, Congress had clearly 
won, and the question was whether the "Moderates" or 
"Radicals" should give the terms on which the Southern 
States should be readmitted to full rights in the Union. 
The Moderates won in the first encounter and proposed 
the 14th Amendment as the condition of restoration. Only 
Tennessee accepted, and the fate of the others turned on 
the outcome of the congressional election of 1866. Presi- 
dent Johnson lost, and the radicals triumphed. In 1867, 
the plan of Military Reconstruction, based on negro suf- 
frage was worked out in the acts of March 2d and 23d, 
and of July 19th. For two years the states were under 
process of reorganization, and by 1870 representatives were 
present in Congress from all the states. During the nine 
years from 1868 to 1877, Military. "Carpet Bag" and negro 
rule prevailed. The character of the state governments dur- 
ing these years is indicated in the extracts. Finally by 
means of the Ku Klux and other secret orders, the white.s 
came back into power, and the "Solid South" was again in 
the control of those who had held power before the war. 
After 1877 the old issues gradually disappeared, and the 
Union in spirit as well as in name brought the American 
people as a w-hole to attempt the solution of the industrial 
problems which had now reached an acute stage of devel- 
opment. 

1. PRESIDENTIAL THEORY AND PLANS, 1861-1866 

a. As developed under President Lincoln, 1861-1865: 

Lincoln's conception of the Nature of the Union (Inaugural, 
March 4, 1861). "... I hold that, in contemplation of uni- 
versal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these States 
is perpetual. ... I therefore consider that, in view of the 
Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; . . ." ^ 



1. Nicolay and Ilay, Complete Works of Lincoln. II. 3. 



slavery' and the sectional struggle 467 

Lincoln Outlmcs his Plan (Dec. 8, 1863). "... 'Whereas 
it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said 
rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and 
to reinaugurate loyal State governments . . . ; therefore, I, 
Abraham Lincoln, President ... do proclaim . . . that a full 
pardon is hereby granted to them, . . . with restoration of 
all rights of property, except as to slaves, . . . upon the condi- 
tion that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath 
. . . [to] support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States, and the Union of the States thereunder; . . . 
I do further proclaim . . . that whenever in any of the States 
of [Ark., Tex., La., Miss., Tenn.. Ala., Ga., Fl., S. C. and 
N. C], a number of persons, not less than one-tenth of the 
votes cast [in 1860] . . . shall reestablish a State government 
which shall be republican .... such shall be recognized as 
the true government of the State. . . ."- 

Presidential Repudiation of Congressional Counter-Plan 
(July 8, 1864). "Whereas at the late session, Congress passed 
a bill ' to guarantee to certain States [in rebellion] a republi- 
can form of government.' 

And whereas the said bill contains ... a plan for restoring 
the States in rebellion to their proper practical relation in the 
Union, which plan expresses the sense of Congress upon that 
subject . . . ; 

Now. therefore. I, Abraham Lincoln, ... do proclaim, 
that, while I am . . . unprepared, by a formal approval 
of this bill, to be inflexibly committed to any single plan of 
restoration: and, while I am also unprepared to declare that 
the free-state Constitutions and governments already adopted 
and installed in [Ark. and La.] shall be set aside and held for 
nought, . . . nevertheless I am fully satisfied with the sys- 
tem .... as our very popular plan for the loyal people of any 
State choosing to adopt it. . . . " ^ 

The Wade-Davis Protest (Aug. 5. 1864). "We have read 
without surprise, but not without indignation, the proclamation 
of the President of the 8th of July. 1864. . . . Mark the con- 



2. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln. II. 443-444 

3. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln. IL 54 5. 



468 AMERICAN HISTORY 

tiast [between the two plans]. The bill requires a majority, 
the proclamation is satisfied with one-tenth; the bill requires 
one oath, the proclamation another; the bill ascertains votes by 
registering, the proclamation by guess : . . ; the bill governs 
the rebel states by lazv, . . , the proclamation commits them to 
the lawless discretion of military governors and provost mar- 
shals ; . . . The President has greatly presumed on the for- 
bearance which the supporters of his administration have so 
long practiced, . . . But he must understand that our support 
is of a cause, and not of a man ; that the authority of Congress 
is paramount and must be respected ; that the whole body of the 
Union men of Congress will not submit to be impeached by 
him, of rash and unconstitutional legislation; and if he wishes 
our support, he must confine himself to his executive duties, — 
to obey and execute, not make laws, — . . ."* 

Sumner (Mass.) opposes Presidential Theory (Febr. 25, 
1865). "That it is the duty of the United States, . . , to 
reestablish by act of Congress republican governments in those 
States where loyal governments have been vacated by the ex- 
isting rebellion. Sec. 2. That this important duty is imposed 
... on the United States, . . , and not on . . . any military 
commander or executive officer. . . . " " 

President Lincoln adheres to his policy in his Last Publik: 
Address (April 11, 1865). "We meet this evening not in sor- 
row, but in gladness of heart, . . . By these recent successes 
the reinauguration of the national authority — reconstruction — 
. . . , is pressed much more closely on our attention, . . . 
As a general rule, I abstain from reading attacks upon myself, 
. . . In spite of this precaution, however, it comes to my 
knowledge that I am much censured for some supposed agency 
in setting up and seeking to sustain the new State government 
of Louisiana. [Gives his part]. As to sustaining it, my prom- 
ise is out, as before stated. But as bad promises are better 
broken than kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise, and break 
it whenever I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to 
the public interest ; but I have not yet been so convinced. . . . 



4. Scott, Reconstruction during Civil War, App., 412-424. 

5. McPherson, History of the Civil War, App., 580. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 469 

We are all agreed that the seceded States, so called, are out 
of their proper practical relation with the Union, and that the 
sole object of the government ... is to get them again into 
tl'.at proper practical relation. . . . The question is not whether 
the Louisiana government, as it stands, is quite all that is de- 
sirable. The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and 
help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it? . . . Some 
twelve thousand voters [of La.] have sworn allegiance to the 
Union, . . , held elections, . . , adopted a free-state constitu- 
tion, . . .and empowered the legislature to confer the elective 
franchise upon the colored man. . . . Now, if we reject and 
spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. 
.If, on the contrary, we recognize and sustain the new 
government of Louisiana, the converse of all this is true, . . . 
Again, if we reject Louisiana we also reject one vote in favor 
of the proposed [13th] amendment. ... I repeat the question: 
Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation to the 
l!fnion sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State 
government? What has been said of Louisiana will apply 
generally to other States. . . ."" 

b. As developed under President Johnson: 

Conditions in South at Close of JVar. 

Watterson (Ky.), Oct. 30, 1865. "History records no such 
a spectacle as is now exhibited in the Southern States. After 
a four years war, . . , the Southern people have suddenly 
laid down their arms and given unmistakable evidence of a 
determination to renew in good faith their former relations. 
The voice of every good man, within the eleven States 
lately in rebellion, is raised in behalf of peace and reunion 
under the Stars and Stripes. . . . 

Gen. Grant's Report to the President (Dec. 18, 1865). "I 
am satisfied that the mass of thinking men of the South accept 
the present condition of affairs in good faith, . . . My ob- 
servations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens of the 
Southern States are anxious to return to self-government with- 
in the Union, as soon as possible. ..." 

6. Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln, 11, 672-675. 



470 A^IERICAN HISTORY 

Gen. Carl Schurz's Report to the President (1865). "... 
Treason does, under existing circumstances, not appear odious 
in the South. The people are not impressed with any sense of 
its criminality. . . . There is, as yet, among the southern peo- 
ple, an utter absence of national feeling. . . . The loyalty of 
the masses and most of the leaders of the Southern people, 
consists in submission to necessity. ..." 

B. C. Truman [Sent South by President Johnson], April 
9, 1866. " It is my belief that the South — the great, substan- 
tial, and ])revailing element — is more loyal now than it was 
at the end of the war — more loyal to-day than yesterday, and 
that it will be more loyal tomorrow than today . . . ; and if I 
am satisfied of anything in relation to the South, it is that the 
great majority of its leading men have for ever renounced all 
expectation of a separate nationality." 

Gen. Wade Hampton (S. C.) to President Johnson (1866). 
" The South unequivocally ' accepts the situation ' in which she 
is placed. ... By this I mean that she intends to abide by the 
lazvs of the land honestly; to fulfill all her obligations faithfully 
and to keep her zvord sacredly, and I assert the North has no 
right to demand more of her. . . ." ' 

President Johnson's Early attitude (1864-1865). June, 
1864.—" Traitors should take a back seat in the work of res- 
toration. If there be but five thousand men in Tennessee loyal 
to the constitution . . . these true and faithful men should 
control the work of reorganization. ..." Speech to delegation 
from Indiana, April 21, 1865. — "Upon this idea of destroying 
States my position has been heretofore well known, . . . Some 
are satisfied with the idea that States are to be lost in terri- 
torial and. other divisions, — are to lose their character as States. 
But their life-breath has only been suspended. ..." Annual 
Message, Dec. 4, 1865. — "The true theory is that all pretended 
acts of secession were from the beginning null and void. . . . 
The States attempting to secede placed themselves in a condi- 
tion where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished; 
their functions suspended but not destroyed." ^ 



7. Cited in Fleming. Documentary History, I, 51, 52, 55, 58, 66. 

8. Cited in Fleming. Documentary History, I, 116-117. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 471 

President Johnson's Proclamation of Ivhiy 29, 1865. (May 9, 
President Johnson instructed the Secretaries of State, War, 
Interior &c. again to extend their departments over the South; 
May 22, he ordered the blockade raised, in part; May 29, is- 
sued an amnesty proclamation similar to Lincoln's of Dec. 8, 
1863 ; Mar 29, 1865, W. W. Holden appointed Provisional gov- 
ernor of North Carolina). "Now, therefore, in obedience to the 
high and solemn duties imposed upon me by the Constitution 

... I, Andrew Johnson, President . . . , do hereby appoint 
William W. Holden Provisional Governor of the State of 
North Carolina, whose duty it shall be, . . . to prescril:)e such 
rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for con- 
vening a Convention, composed of delegates to be chosen by 
that portion of the people of the said State who are loyal to 
the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering 
or amending the constitution thereof; and with authority to 
exercise, ... all the powers necessary and proper to enable 
such loyal people, ... to restore said State to its constitutional 
relations to the Federal Government, . . . [Voters to take oath 
to United States]."'' 

Action taken by Southern States. 

Mississippi (Aug. 22, 1865). "Be it ordained by the people 

of the State of Mississippi. . . . That an ordinance passed. . . . 

1861. entitled ' An ordinance to dissolve the Union between the 

State of Mississippi and other States," . . , is hereby declared 

to be null and void." 

North Carolina (Oct. 9. 1865). -'Be it declared . . . That 

slavery and involuntary servitude, . . . shall be and is hereby 

forever prohibited within the State." 

North Carolina (Nov. 1, 1865). "Be it declared . . . by 

the people of the State of North Carolina . . . That all debts 

and obligations created or incurred by the state in aid of the 

late rebellion, . . . are void. . . ."^'- 

PresUent Johnson's Statement of Conditions (Messages of 

1865). Dec. 4.— 'T have . . . sought to restore the rightful 

energy of the General Government and of the States. To that 



9. McPherson, History of Reconstruction, 13. 

10. Senate Doc. Ut Scs. 39th Cong., No. 26, pp. 38, 72. 



472 AMERICAN HISTORY 

end. provisional governors have been appointed for the States, 
conventions called, governors elected, legislatures assembled, 
and senators and representatives chosen to the Congress of the 
United States. At the same time the courts of the United 
States . . . have been reopened. ..." Dec. 18. — "As the re- 
sult of the measures instituted by the Executive, . . . the 
people in [N. C, S. C, Ga., Ala., Miss., La., Ark. and Tenn.] 
have reorganized their respective state governments and are 
yielding obedience to the laws and government of the United 
States. . . ."11 

Alabama approves the Presidential Policy (Febr. 22, 1866). 
" Resolved by the Senate . . . of the State of Alabavia, . . . 
That the people of Alabama, and their representatives . . . 
cordially approve the policy pursued by Andrew^ Johnson, Presi- 
dent of the United States, in the reorganization of the Union. 
We accept the results of the late contest, . . . We mean to co- 
operate in the wise, firm, and just policy adopted by the Presi- 
dent, with all the energy and power we can devote to that ob- 
ject, . . . and we denounce the efforts of those who represent 
our views and intentions to be different as cruel and criminal 
assaults on our character and our interest. That involuntary 
servitude, ... is abolished, and ought not to be reestablished, 
and that the negro race among us should be treated with jus- 
tice, humanity, and good faith, and every means that the Leg- 
islature can devise should be used to make them useful and 
intelligent members of society. . . ." '^- 

c. Results in Reconstructed States: 

"Black Laix's" passed by States (Mississippi laws of 1865). 

Apprentice Law, Nov. 22, 1865. " Sec. 1. It shall be the 
duty of all the sheriffs ... to report to probate courts . . . 
all freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes, under the age of 
eighteen . . , who are orphans . . ; and thereupon it shall 
be the duty of said probate courts ... to apprentice said 
minors to some competent and suitable person, . . . Sec. 3. 



11. Richardson, Messages of the Presidents, VI, 357, 372. 

12. Cited in Fleming, Documeniary History, I, 192-193. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 473 

... in the management and control of said apprentice, said 
master . . . shall have the power to inflict such moderate cor- 
poral pmiishment as a father ... is allowed to inflict. ..." 
Vagrant law, Nov. 24. " Sec. 1. Be it enacted . . . That 
all rogues and vagabonds, idle and dissipated persons, beggars, 
. . . persons who neglect their calling. . . . and all other 
idle and disorderly persons . . . shall be deemed . . . vagrants 
. , and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding 
one hundred dollars . . . and be imprisoned . . . not ex- 
ceeding ten days." 

Civil Rights Act, Nov. 25. " Be it enacted . . . That all 
freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes may sue and be sued, 
. . , and may acquire personal property. . . . and may dis- 
pose of the same in the same manner . . . that white persons 
may: Provided. That [no such persons may rent] or lease any 
lands or tenements except in incorporated cities or towns. . . . 
Sec. 5. . . . Every freedman . . .shall, on the second Monday 
oi: January. 1866, and annually thereafter, have a lawful home 
or employment, and shall have written evidence thereof. ..." 
Nov. 29. — "Be it enacted. . . . That no freedman . . . shall 
keep or carry fire arms of any kind, ..." ^'^ 

2. CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION, 1866-1870 

a. The Moderates in Control, 1865-1866: 

Information Sought: Committee of fifteen (April 9, 1866). 
" Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in Con- 
gress assembled, That a joint committe of fifteen members shall 
be appointed, . . . who shall enquire into the conditions of 
the States which formed the so-called Confederate States of 
America; and report whether they or any of them are entitled 
to be represented in either House of Congress . . ; and until such 
report shall have been made and finally acted upon by Con- 
gress, no member shall be received into either House from any 
of the so-called Confederate States. . . ."^* 

Debate in Congress. 

Fink (Ohio Dem.), Dec. 21. 186.=;. "Sir. more than this; 



13. Cited in Fleming, Documentary History, II, 282-289. 

14. Statutes at Large, XVI, 27. 



474 AMERICAN HISTORY 

if these States are in the Union, and if they have never been 
out of it as I contend, then, sir, they are in the Union as 
equal States, with all the Rights and privileges which belong 
to States in this Union, and are entitled to representation on 
this floor by the same authority as the States of Pennsylvania 
and Ohio. I am, sir, in favor of the admission of members 
from the States now unrepresented. . . . The people of these 
States, it seems lo me, have acquiesced with great unanimity 
and with sincerity in the condition of things which the war has 
brought upon us." 

Shallabarger (Ohio Rep.), Jan. 8, 1866. "If these States 
lost their powers and rights as States, by what authority and 
means are they restored ? Is it accomplished by mere cessa- 
tion of war and the determination of the rebel inhabitants to 
resume the powers of States ; or is this Government entitled 
to take jurisdiction over the time and manner of their return? 
I hold that the latter is the obvious answer. ..." 

Raymond (N. Y. Johnson-Republican), Jan. 29, 1866. ". . . 
I hold that these States have never ceased to be States in and 
States of the Union. And they are to-day States of the 
Union, and therefore entitled to all the rights conferred upon 
them as such by the Constitution." ^-^ 

Report of the Committee of Fifteen. 

Majority Report (Republican), June 18, 1866. "... [I]t 
is the opinion of your committee, I. That the States lately in 
rebellion were, at the close of the war, disorganized communi- 
ties, without civil government, and without constitutions or 
other forms, by virtue of which political relations could legally 
exist between them and the Federal Government. ... II. That 
Congress cannot be expected to recognize as valid the election 
of representatives from disorganized communities. . . . III. 
That Congress would not be justified in admitting such com- 
munities [to representation] without first providing such con- 
stitutional or other guarantees as will tend to secure the civil 
rights of all citizens of the Republic, a just equality of repre- 
sentation ; ... To this end they ofTer a joint resolution for 



15. .1^'. and J. Rives, Cong. Globe, 1st Ses. 39th Cong., I, 118. 145. 



SLAX'ERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 475 

amending the Constitution of the United States | it later be- 
came the 14th Amendment]." 

Minority Report (Democrats). "First as to the States. 
Did the insurrection at its commencement or at any subsequent 
time, legally dissolve the connection between those States and 
the General Government? ... To concede that by the illegal 
conduct of her own citizens she [a State] can be withdrawn 
from the Union, is virtually to concede the right of secession. 
. . But the doctrine is wholly erroneous. A State once in 
the Union must abide in it forever. She can never be with- 
drawn from nor expelled from it. A different principle would 
subject the Union to dissolution at any moment. It is, there- 
fore, alike perilous and unsound. . . . Whether regard be had 
to the nature or the terms of the Constitution, or to the legis- 
lation of Congress during the insurrection, or to the course of 
the judicial department, or to the conduct of the executive, the 
[minority] confidently submit that the Southern States are 
Slates in the Union, and entitled to every right and privilege 
belonging to the other States. . . ."^^ 

b. Struggle for Control of Congress, 1866: 

Pro-Johnson Union Convention (Philadelphia, Aug, 14. 
1866. "(3) Representation in the Congress of the United 
States ... is a right recognized by the Constitution as abid- 
ing in every State, . . , (4) We call upon the people of the 
United States to elect to Congress . . . none but men who 
admit this fundamental right of representation, and who will 
receive to seats therein loyal representatives from every 
State. ..." 

Republican Convention (Pittsburg, Sept. 26, 1866). "Re- 
solved, That the action of the present Congress in passing the 
pending constitutional amendment [the 14th] is wise, prudent, 
jrst. It clearly defines American citizenship and guarantees all 
his rights to every citizen. It places on a ju.st and equal basis 
the right of representation. ... It righteously excludes from 
places of honor and trust the chief conspirators, guiltiest rebels, 
whose perjured crimes have drenched the land in fraternal 



U). .McPhcrson. History of Reconstruction, 93101. 



476 AMERICAN HISTORY 

blood. It puts into the very frame of our Government the in- 
violability of the national debt and the nullity forever of all 
obligations contracted in support of the rebellion. (2) That 
it is unfortunate for the country that these propositions have 
not been received in the spirit of conciliation, clemency, and 
fraternal feeling in which [they were] offered, as they are the 
mildest terms ever granted to subdued reliels. . . . "' ^" 

c The Radicals in Power, 1867-1870: 

Pla)i of Military Reconstruction (Act of March 2. 1867). 
" Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection 
for life or property now exists in the States of [Va., N. C, 
S. C, Ga., Miss., Ala., La., Fl., Tex. and Ark.]. . . . There- 
fore, Be it enacted, . . . That said rebel States shall be di- 
vided into military districts and made subject to the military 
authorities of the United States. . . . Sec. 5. . . . When 
the people of any one of said rebel States shall have formed a 
constitution of government in conformity with the Constitu- 
tion of the United States in all respects, framed by a conven- 
tion of delegates elected by the male citizens of said State, 
twenty one years old and upwards, of whatever race, color, or 
previous condition . . . except such as may be disfranchised 
for participating in the rebellion, . . , and when said consti- 
tution shall have been submitted to Congress . . . and Con- 
gress shall have approved the same, and when said State, . . . 
shall have adopted the [14th] amendment, . . . and when said 
article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the 
United States, said State shall be declared entitled to repre- 
sentation in Congress. . . . Sec. 6. Until [the above is com- 
pleted] any civil governments which may exist therein shall be 
considered provisional only, and in all respects subject to the 
paramount authority of the United States at any time to abolish, 
modify or control, or supersede the same ; . . . [Act of March 
23 formulated the method for carrying out the above act.]." ^"^ 

Feeling in South toivards Military Reconstruction (South 
Carolina, Sept. 21, 1867). " We desire peace for its own sake, 



17. McPherson, History of Recons; ruction. 

18. AlcPherson, Hif;tory of Reconstruction, 191-192. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 477 

. . . Do the Reconstruction Acts of Congress propose to give 
us this peace ? No — they give us war and anarchy rather. 
They sow the seeds of discord in our midst and place the best 
interests of society in the hands of an ignorant mob. They dis- 
franchise the white citizen and enfranchise the newlv eman- 
cipated slave. The slave of yesterday, who knew no law but 
the will of his master, is to-day about to be invested with the 
control of the government. . . . We are not unfriendly to the 
negro, ... In his property, in his life and in his person we 
are willing that the black man and the white man shall stand 
together upon the same platform and be shielded by the same 
equal laws, . . . Not for ourselves only, but on behalf of the 
Anglo-Saxon race and blood in this country, do we protest 
against this subversion of the great social law. whereby an 
ignorant and depraved race is placed in power and influence 
above the virtuous, the educated and the refined. By these 
acts of Congress intelligence and virtue are put under foot, 
while ignorance and vice are lifted into power." ^^ 

Debate in Congress. 

Cowan (Pa., Johnson), Febr. 20, 1867). "Mr. President, 
I have no words, I have no heart to express what I think of 
this bill. . . . That we, the descendants of revolutionary sires, 
. . . should ... so far forget everything that had heretofore 
been deemed sacred, true, wise and salutary in politics, as to 
attempt the establishment of a military despotism over any part 
of the American people ! . . . Febr. 20. You want to restore 
the Union. . . ; but how restore it ? There is, as I said before, 
only one way to restore it. and that is to trust the people, 
because they underlie the whole fabric. ..." 

Sherman (Ohio Rep.), "The amendment now proposed 
. . . does exclude a few people from voting, I think unwisely ; 
. . . I would rather have them all vote, white and black. 



19. Cited in FUming, Documentary History., II, 424-436. 

20. F. and J. Rives Cong. Globe. 2d Ses, 39th Cong., 1626. 1630 



478 AMERICAN HISTORY 

3. RESULTS OF RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION 

a. Carpet Bag and Negro Rule: 

Meaning of "Carpet Bagger" (S. W. Scott's Testimony). 
" I understand the use of the term carpet bagger, as it is used 
by the respectable people of the State of Louisiana, to mean 
Northern men who came here expressly for political purposes, 
and excite the animosity of the colored class against their old 
masters for the purpose of receiving their votes and obtaining 
office, . . , and, as is generally believed, obtain these offices 
for the purpose of robbing the people, having no intention of 
remaining here after the time when they shall stop making 
money through their official position. . . ."^^ 

Conditions under "Carpet Bag" control. 

South Carolina as described by A. Pike, a former Aboli- 
tionist of New York. "... We will enter the House of 
Representatives. Here sit 124 members. • Of these 23 are white 
men, representing the remains of the old civilization. These 
are good-looking substantial citizens. . . . The frosts of 60 and 
70 winters whiten the heads of some among them, . . . De- 
ducting the 23 members referred to, who comprise the entire 
strength of the opposition, we find 101 remaining. Of this 101, 
94 are colored, and seven are their white allies. . . . The 
Speaker is black, the Clerk is lilack, the door-keepers are black, 
the little pages are black . . . and the chaplain is coal-black. 
. . . One of the things that first strikes a casual observer in 
this negro assembly is the fluency of debate, if the endless 
chatter that goes on there can be dignified with this term. . . . 
No one is allowed to talk five minutes without interruption, 
. . . Forty questions of privilege will be raised in a day. At 
times nothing goes on but alternating questions of order and 
privilege. . . ."22 

Gov. Chamberlain (last Republican governor of South Caro- 
lina, 1876). "A very .large number of the members of the 
South Carolina legislature come to the capital for the purpose 



21. Fleming. Documentary History, II, 48. 

22. Pike. A Prostrate State, 1315, 19. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 479 

of selling their votes. . . . What a travesty it is to see men 
filling the office of school-commissioner, . . . when they can 
barely write their own names. . . ."-•* 

Examples of Financial Conditions in South Carolina (1870, 
1873). 
1870 

Nov. 26. 1 comb and brush $ 2 . 75 

Dec. 2. 1 bottle cologne 2.50 

Dec. 14. 1 dozen linen collars 3.00 

Jan. 5. 1 pair corsets 3 . 00 

1873. 
Jan. 30. 1 box cigars $10; 1 case wine $45 = 55.00 

Febr. 7. Bill of merchandize 284.39 

Febr. 7. 2 bottles champagne 7.00 

Total $861.52 

Printing— Total cost 1868-1876. . .- $1,326,589 

Total cost 1790-1868 609,000 

Corruption (-1872-1873).— " When the legislature met the 
last time [1871] the new furniture was all in; the House was 
furnished superbly. . . . When the bill came in it amounted 
to $95,000. . . . And, although the highest prices were paid 
for this furniture, three or four or five times its value — for in- 
stance, $750 was paid for one mirror in the speaker's room'; 
. . . ; clocks, at $480 apiece; chandeliers, at $650^: Question. 
How many spittoons were there? Answer. There were 200 
tine porcelain spittoons at eight dollars apiece. . . ."-^ 

Taxation (in North Carolina and Mississippi). 

North Carolina. " The taxation for .state purposes has been 
increased fivefold. . . . Our taxation for State purposes before 
the war used to be ten cents on each hundred dollars. . . . We 
pay this year for .State purposes 52 cents on each hundred dol- 
lars of value.*' 

Mississippi. " In 1869, the State levy was 10 cents on the 
$100 of assessed value of lands. . . . For the year 1874 it was 
fourteen times as trreat." -'' 



23. Fleming, Dociniicntary History, II, 58. 

24. Pike, A J'rostrate State. 202-203. 

25. Fleming, Documentary History, II, 70-71. 



480 AMERICAN HISTORY 

b. White Supremacy restored: 

The Ku Klux Klan and other Secret Societies. 

Origin and Purpose. "... the prime moving cause of the 
existence of the Ku Klux, was the result of the Union Leagues. 
. . . Those Union Leagues were supposed ... to have not only 
a political object, but to a certain extent an object of crime; 
. . . And this band of Ku Klux was said to have been organized 
... to punish crime where the laws failed to administer jus- 
tice. The cause of the troubles in the whole southern country 
is bad government. . . . From the close of the war up to 1867 
affairs were perfectly quiet in the South ; . . . Our friends 
thought it proper to organize a secret society for the purpose 
of counteracting that influence. . . . First : To protect the weak, 
the innocent ,and the defenseless, from the indignities, wrongs, 
and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal ; . . . 
Second : To protect and defend the Constitution of the United 
States ; . . . Third : To aid and assist in the execution of all 
constitutional laws. . . . [Constitution, 1867] Knights of the 
White Camelia, [Constitution, 1869] charge. As you have al- 
ready gathered from the questions . . , and from the Oath . . , 
our main and fundamental object is the Maintenance of the 
Supremacy of the White Race in this Republic. . . . " -•' 

The Plan of W^ork ; Costume. " The costume is a long 
gown with loose flowing sleeves, with a hood, in which the 
apertures for the eyes, nose and mouth are trimmed with some 
red material. The hood has three horns. . . . Then there is a 
long tongue sticking out about six inches, made of red flannel 
also, and so fixed that it can be moved. . . . Then in the mouth 
are large teeth that are very frightful. . . . [Statement of J. 
W. Holden]., A night traveler called at the negro quarters, 
. . , and asked for water. After he had drunk three buckets 
full of water, at which the negro was much astonished, he 
thanked the colored man and told him he was very thirsty. 
that he had traveled nearly a thousand miles in twenty-four 
hours, and that was the best drink he had had since he was 
killed at the battle of Shiloh. The negro . . . has not since 
been heard from. White men on white horses have latelv been 



26. Fleming, Documentary History, II, ii2i2^, 347, 351. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTFONAL STRUGGLE 481 

seen sailing through the air at midnight, . . . [From the 
Planters Bonner, Louisiana, 1868J." -' 

The final struggle for White Supremacy. 

Statement of Miss. Examiner (Oct. 7, 1875). " The Repub- 
lican journals of the North made a great mistake regarding the 
present campaign in Mississippi in the light of a political con- 
test. It is something more earnest and holy than that — it is, 
so far as the white people and land-owners are concerned, a 
battle for the control of their own domestic afifairs ; a struggle 
to regain a mastery that has been ruthlessly torn from them by 
selfish white schemers and adventurers, through the instrumen- 
tality of an ignorant horde of another race which has been as 
putty in their hands, moulded to our detriment and ruin. . . . " ^« 

Cited by Senator Sumner in Senate. '"Call it what you 
pkase. Some call it the color-line. It looks to us like the white- 
line. We are in favor of the color line as a principle, a neces- 
sity, and a policy. As a principle it means that property, intel- 
ligence, and integrity enjoy, of right, a superiority over pov- 
erty, ignorance, and duplicity; . . . Rally on the color-line, 
boys, beyond the platform, every man to his color and colors, 
and make these negro pretenders to govern this great country 
come down, else put 'em down. ..." -'■' 

Negro Senator Revel's Statement (1875). "I cannot recog- 
nize, nor do the masses of my people who read recognize, the 
majority of the officials who have been in power for the past 
two years as republicans. We do not believe that republicanism 
means corruption, theft, and embezzlement. These three of- 
fences have been prevalent among a great portion of our of- 
fice-holders; to them must be attributed the defeat of the re- 
publican party in the State if defeat there was; ..." 

Address of Charleston Business Men (1876). "For ten long 
weary years the white people of South Carolina have endured a 
condition of things which any Northern State would have been 
tempted to throw off . . . at the point of the bayonet if . . . 
in no other way. | Some misrepresentations] we desire to cor- 

27. Fleming, Documentary History, II. 364-365. 

28. Fleming, Documenlary History, II, 394. 

29. Cong. Record, 1876, Vol. IV, Pt. 6, 21-23. 



482 AMERICAN HISTORY 

rect: It is not true that the white people of South Carolina are 
disloyal ... to the United States Government. . . . It is not 
true that South Carolina or any of its counties, is in a state of 
insurrection, . . . It is not true that the white people are hos- 
tile to the colored people, . . . It is not true that in the recent 
race collisions the white people have been the aggressors. . . . 
It is true that there is in the State a most active, earnest and 
excited canvass to overthrow corrupt rule and reestablish honest 
State Government. . . ." ^° 

c. Troops Withdrawn from the South: 

President Grant to Gov. Packard of Louisiana (March, 1, 
1877). "In answer to your dispatch . . . The President 
[Grant] directs me to say that he feels it his duty to state 
frankly that he does not believe public opinion will longer sus- 
tain the maintenance of State Government in Louisiana by the 
military, and that he must concur in this manifest feeling. 

The troops will hereafter, as in the past, protect life and 
property . . . ; but . . . they will not be used to establish 
or pull down either claimant for control of the State. It is 
not his purpose to recognize either claimant. . . . C. C. Sniffin, 
Secretary." 

President Hayes to Secty of War G. IV. McCreary (April 
20, 1877). "Sir: Prior to my entering upon the duties of the 
Presidency, [troops] had been stationed, ... in the immediate 
vicinity of the building used as the State-House, in New Or- 
leans, La. ... In my opinion there does not now exist in 
Louisiana such domestic violence as is contemplated by the 
Constitution as the ground upon which the military power of 
the National Government may be invoked for the defense of 
a State. The disputes which exist as to the right of certain 
claimants to the chief executive office of that State are to be 
settled and determined not by the Executive of the United States, 
but by such orderly . . . methods as may be provided by the 
Constitution and laws of the State. . . . You are therefore 
directed to see that the proper orders are issued for the removal 
of said troops at an early date, ..." 



30. Fleming. Documentary History, II, 402. 408-410. 



SLAVERY AND THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE 483 

Republican Governor Chamberlain of South Carolina on 
effects of above order and a si)nilar one to him. " What is 
the President's Southern PoHcy? ... In point of actual re- 
sults, it consists in the ahandonment of Southern Republicans, 
and especially the colored race, to the control and rule not only 
of the Democratic party, but of that class at the South which 
regarded slavery as a Divine Institution, . . , which steadily 
opposed citizenship and suffrage for the negro — in a word, a 
class whose traditions, principles, and history are opposed to 
every step and feature of what Republicans call our national 
piogress since 1860. . . ."^^ 



QUESTIONS 

I. (1) Where do you find the basis of Lincoln theory of 
reconstruction? (2) Outline his plan as set forth in 1863. 
(3) What was the attitude towards Lincoln of Wade and Davis, 
and what its significance? (4) Does Lincoln seem_ to have 
been satisfied with his own plan of restoration? (5) What 
seems to have been the state of mind of the South towards the 
Union in 1865? (6) Did Johnson attempt to follow Lincoln's 
plan? (7) What changes in State constitutions made by the 
seceded states in 1865? (8) Were the laws made by the South- 
ern States for the freedmen justifiable? (9) What was the 
action of Congress in regard to the Johnson reconstructed state 
governments in 1865-1866? (10) How did the Democrats stand 
in regard to the effect of secession on the States? (11) What 
position taken by the Republicans in regard to the status of the 
Southern States at the close of the war? (12) What issue in 
the political campaign of 1866? (13) What states were placed 
under military recon.struction ? (14) .Who could vote in re- 
constructing these states? (15) How did the whites of the 
South receive military reconstruction? (16) How did Presi- 
dent Johnson's friends regard it? (17) Who were the "car- 
pet baggers"? (18) What the character of the governments 
in the Southern States after reconstruction? (19) How did the 
white people of the South regain power? (20) How did they 
justify their action? 

II. (1) Write a i)aper on "the Presidential theory of Re- 
construction. (2) (iive an outline of the Congressional plan 
of reconstruction. (3) Were the Southern people justified in 
overthrowing "carpet bag" and negro rule? (4) Write a pa- 

31. Allen, Chamberlain's Administration, 508. 



484 . AMERICAN HISTORY 

per on the misgovernmeiit under negro rule in South Caro- 
lina. 

III. (1) Should Congress have accepted the Johnson state 
governments in Dec, 1865? (2) Why did the Southern States 
reject the 14th Amendment in 1866, and were they justified in 
so doing? (3) What were the reasons for military reconstruc- 
tion, and were they justifiable? (4) Why the "solid South"? 

Text-Book References. — Adams and Trent, 446-472; Ashlev, 
431-454: Channing, 533-549; Hart, 491-509; James and San- 
ford, 415-435; MacDonald's Johnston, 440-463; McLaughlin, 
469-500; Montgomery [Revised ed.], 512-544; McMaster, 425- 
431, 437-451; Thomas [Ed. 1901], 390-419. 



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